The Price of Living
by WolvesHaveReturned
Summary: The 11th Doctor's alone & having a rough go after losing the Ponds. He suffered losses on a solo trip when he feels a presence he hasn't felt in centuries. A journey to save Gallifrey & himself. AU 50th fix! No Clara O., set after ATM but before the Doctor has a chance to withdraw from the universe.OC's, Jack, 11/Rose & Bad Wolf, Rassilon, mentions Tentoo, Donna, Amy/Rory, & River.
1. Unexpected Presence

**A/N: Hello! This is my first Doctor Who fic! Huzzah! And I don't own anything nor profit from writing these characters, but oh, how fun it is!**

**My other disclaimer is that I am an American so some idioms may be off, my apologies, but I will do my best to make sure I am as on it as possible.**

**So, I've had this idea floating in my head for weeks and it's been a right nag, let me tell you, so I've finally given in and begun writing. While the 4th and 9th Doctors will always be my favorite, I'm writing 11, because the timeline works best and he feels like a combo of the two and just Rose Tyler related reasons.**

**I hate Clara Oswin Oswald, no shame- she calls the TARDIS a snog-box and Sexy doesn't like her, so I'm starting this shortly after the Ponds are gone and the cannon Doctor would have sequestered himself in Victorian London, only he isn't or hasn't and won't. He'll find better things, and won't need Clara to step into his timestream to aid in the salvation of not only himself but Gallifrey. We're going to meet some OC's and familiar ones as well and possibly save the world.**

**Lets go on a journey!**

**Reviews! Love a review!**

**Geronimo!**

It had been a very, very bad week. Extremely not nice. Horrible even.

The TARDIS had sustained severe damage on Rodan IV, a planet inhabited by brilliant bi-ped insectoids with a nose for business - among other things, their noses were shaped like short elephant trunks and they had smallish buzzing wings like flies, yes, they were like giant money-wise flies with elephant noses, only nothing like that, actually, that was a rubbish description and he'd never use it again. He'd stopped for rare parts he needed for his ship, when he landed in the middle of a planetary war.

He had narrowly escaped almost certain death with no regeneration - he didn't have one left, now did he, and that was rather sobering - as the planet was hit with delta wave after delta wave, a technology that should never have even been possible in the where and when he had landed, destroying most of the once peaceful trading planet's population and battering the TARDIS in a way she hadn't suffered since the Time War.

He had managed to find the satellite transmitting the deadly waves and blow it up before the planet had completed a full rotation, thus saving about a quarter of its inhabitants, but it had been far too little, far too late.

More than two billion living beings brutally murdered, and for what? New territory and the vile hate of all that was different.

He took very little comfort but savage pleasure in toppling the power-mad, xenophobic humanoid empire responsible for the genocide on the neighbouring planet of Ghidra III. So many lives had been lost, wasted, turned to dust before their time and he was tired.

He was so very, very tired.

He had lost the Ponds two months, eight days, sixteen hours, and twenty-three minutes ago, and he was now certain he would never see River again.

Shortly before his disastrous trip to Rodan IV, she told him she was leading and expedition to The Library. He'd known the day would come, but losing another loved one and so soon after losing Amy and Rory was absolutely gutting.

He missed each of the Ponds with every fibre of his being. They had been his salvation after the madness he suffered toward the end of his last life, they tempered the grief that had come from the loss of his race, once again... the loss of... once again... In them he had gained not only a safe haven and companionship, but he had shared more with Amy than anyone in hundreds of years.

He felt steel bands forming around his hearts as he thought of all the ways he had let her down and she still had loved her Raggedy Man, still cared and noticed when he needed comfort and she still forgave him for all that which he couldn't forgive himself. And she was impossibly brilliant. And she was gone.

She would always choose Rory, of course, and quite right too. He had known she would, and he didn't grudge either of them that - that unimaginable and unfailing love they had for each other... of course he understood, he had, after all... well, yes, he understood being irrevocably separated from, well, and the agony that followed - but the loss of impossible, amazing Amelia Pond hurt so, so much - like when he had lost Donna… He couldn't think about Donna, though, not now with Amy so recently... gone... If she had just come back into the TARDIS... and maybe they could have found a way to bring Rory back - but well, no, probably not, impossible really, or he'd have gone after them straight away.

He had to let them go. All of them. The Girl Who Waited, The Last Centurion, and the woman that loved him enough to destroy the universe to prevent his death. Impossible humans. His family.

He'd lost another family.

Was it so very much to ask for, his little human family? He knew the answer, of course. When had he ever been allowed that kind of domestic bliss? Even his own granddaughter hadn't been his to keep forever. He felt the bands around his hearts tightening as he thought of his beloved Susan... He thought of each one of his companions and how he had loved each of them in their own way and had never been allowed to keep them for long. No, he was a monster that eventually annihilated all that he loved. Hadn't he proven this time and time again?

Look what he had done to the Ponds. Look what he had done to his precious Amelia. She'd never have more children. She never got to see her daughter's first steps, nor taught her to ride a bicycle. He's been the cause of her pain over and over and she was forever changed as a result.

Oh, bollocks, look what he had done to _Rory_! How many times had he been killed or winked out of existence? Nevermind that it didn't stick. How many times had he proven that he was a better and bigger man than the Doctor could ever be? Why hadn't Rory the brilliant Roman punched him in the face every day? Or taken his family far, far away from the Doctor's destructive and explosive life? He too would never be allowed the joys of fatherhood. He would never be able to give his daughter away to a man that deserved her, never dance with small hands in his and feet atop his own, never soothe her when she needed, and never have another chance.

Neither of them would ever have grand-babies to hold. By all rights they should have been able to sit on rocking chairs in Leadworth with loads of children and grandchildren surrounding them as they had tea and jammy toast with kippers, or went sea bathing, or tended their back garden, or whatever it is humans do when they aren't with a mad old Time Lord who destroys lives.

And River. Oh, _River_. She should have had a real childhood. She... Well, he was never going to forgive himself that; never begin to atone for what her life had been from the moment she was born on an asteroid millions of light years from the safety of Earth and beans on toast. The worst part, and possibly the only thing that saved him from wanting to die of shame without regenerating - and oh, wasn't that just damning all on its own - was that she loved him utterly and completely. It was the only thing that allowed him the strength to go on. He could apologise to her and love her to the best of his ability so that she could have the life she deserved even if she had unimaginable horrors in her past. He knew a thing or two about that after all. And he did love her, even if it wasn't exactly the way she loved him, he did. He tried to make her adult life fantastic.

Yet, she would be dead now - or well, technically dead, sort of. Her body definitely died to save him even if he had managed to save her consciousness. Still, she had sacrificed herself for him, again, as so many before her had done.

Why? Didn't they understand that he did that to them? Didn't they understand that their lives were every bit as important as his own?

Of course not, because he did that to them as well. Made himself so important to all of them that they would make the ultimate sacrifice without blinking. Charmed them all into believing he was worth it.

Rule number one.

Oh, bloody hell! Why was he allowing himself to wallow like this?

He heaved a sigh and started down the stairs leading under the console.

Try as he might to keep his thoughts from the darkness that was always threatening to envelop him, he couldn't stop the onslaught now it had begun. When he considered all that he'd lost in his life, he felt utterly suffocated. He had no home apart from his - admittedly rather brilliant and magnificent - TARDIS, and everyone he ever loved was either dead or irrevocably lost to him - well, sort of, almost, not really since_ she_ technically was with him, just not with _him_ him - and oh, if thinking about_ her_ didn't just typify how supremely unfair the universe could be.

_She_ had crossed the void for him. _She_ had defied the impossible on so many occasions for him and_ she_ loved him. _Him!_ The broken old man that babbled and evaded and ran from feelings. _She_ loved him. And oh, _how_ he loved _her_. How he wished -_ yearned_ even - that _she_ were with him then to soothe the ache, like _she_ always had, and quiet his ever-howling demons with _her_ innocence, _her_ fire and unwavering compassion. The steel bands around his hearts tightened further, so very tightly, in fact, that he was sure they would cease beating all together. Yet, if he had kept _her_ as he had so desperately wanted, timelines be damned, he had seen terrible consequences for the universe. He was never going to be able to keep _her_ without the implosion of existence, the timelines had to play out.

How was that for divine punishment? He would have _her_, but he would never have_ her. _

It was never going to be fair for either of them. _She_ would have a life and family with the man _she_ loved - _him for Rassilon's sake_ - and always long for the stars, while he would always long for _her_ but had all of time and space. He knew, of course, that he'd never love any woman the way he loved _her_, after all,_ she'd_ taught him how. His goddess. His salvation. His torment.

"_Rose,_" he whispered the familiar prayer that was _her_ name into the surrounding emptiness.

He took a moment to ponder whether or not he - the other he with one heart and _his_ Rose Tyler - had managed to grow the TARDIS properly and if, just maybe, please, they weren't denied the stars after all. He doubted it. Donna... oh, Donna... hadn't considered that the universe in which he had left them with that bit of his sentient ship had not been... well, compatible... diesel where it should have been petrol... but not really like that at all, that was a rubbish analogy, still, it illustrated his point. He had probably sentenced them both to a slow, cheese and toast life on and Earth with Zeppelins, and no Prime Vortex to grow their TARDIS. He'd never know.

He heaved a sigh and began examining the masses of tangled wires before him.

He needed to rest for a while and sort himself out or he'd end up withdrawing from the universe completely.

He was intent on just wallowing in the vortex and repairing his beautiful timeship when he felt it.

It began as a tickle in the back of his mind, a feather-light breeze of consciousness that he had not felt since his last encounter with the Master. It was faint enough that he might have written it off as if it were only phantom pains in a long removed limb - after all, it had disappeared as quickly as it had manifested - but shortly after he was telepathically assaulted by waves of agony and grief. The lament was so strong that he sank involuntarily to his knees and clutched at his head as the cacophony of pained thoughts tumbled indistinctly together.

He struggled and choked back a strangled sob as he tried to erect mental barriers. Having been too long alone in there, he'd been completely mentally unguarded, which, had that been an actual telepathic assault, would've been very, extremely not good. Thankfully, it didn't appear to be. But now that the din was only a distant pulse at the back of his mind, he could properly think.

The presence wasn't alien. Of course, he knew of many other telepathic species littered throughout the galaxies, but only one that felt and resonated the way this did. This was familiar, and frightening, and exhilarating and - oh!

Somewhere, somewhen, was a Time Lord.

_Or Time Lords._

Analysing the presence pointed to the latter. Probably, well, most likely - yes, he was sure almost - less than ten Time Lords in total - well, no, they could be Time _Ladies_, they weren't necessarily male, and that was wonderful too, yes - less than ten, that's what it seemed like, but it could be twenty even, who knew, really? Maybe the ones he felt were especially loud, but probably, almost certainly only a handful - but Time Lords!

If hope was a thing with feathers, he was a bird, indeed.

How? Why now? What was happening? Was it too good to be true? Was it another trap as it had been when House had tried to take his TARDIS from him and consume her?

_Oh, sod it!_ He wasn't alone, not the last, there were other _Time Lords!_

Time Lords in incredible distress.

He ran back up the stairs to the console monitor and began furiously trying to pinpoint their location. He would find them. He had to.

He pleaded silently with the TARDIS to lock onto them quickly, pushing his mop of floppy hair out of his green eyes that burned with the fire of hope as he mathematically searched the universe. If they were in trouble… well, he would find them. He would. He would save them this time.

As suddenly as they had come, those impossible voices, so filled with anguish, they were gone, leaving him alone and bereft once more.

"No!" he screamed and threw the lever for the dematerialisation sequence, forgetting that she desperately needed repairs. "No, no, no, no, no!" He ran around the console pushing buttons and throwing levers with reckless abandon.

He ran full circle to the monitor. He hadn't gotten an exact lock, only that it had come from the Garazone System. It was at least a start, but there were four inhabited planets and two colonised moons to search.

"Take me to them, Old Girl, please. You always take me where I need to go, please. I need…" He swallowed hard. Failure was just not an option.

The TARDIS lurched and he was flung face-first to the floor but he felt her reassuring nudge in his mind and a few flashes of scenery including some street vendors on a planet with a violet sky, piles of mechanical parts, and... puppies? Batty. Sometimes his Sexy thing was as mental as he was. He wondered if she was damaged more seriously than he had thought. Still, he felt reasonably confident that she would pull this off. She was brilliant and magnificent and she would. She would.

He jumped to his feet and resumed his mad dance around the console, throwing levers and running back to the monitor every few seconds to check for more concrete evidence.

Feeling slightly panicked and more than a little frightened, it hit him once again in an utterly overwhelming moment that he had felt other Time Lords. He wasn't alone. The trouble would be dealt with, and he wouldn't be alone anymore. How? It didn't matter, not really. All that mattered was getting there.

Rassilon help the sorry sod that had them and was inflicting such suffering, they would meet with all the fury of The Oncoming Storm.


	2. Spare Parts

**A/N: I own a car, not a TARDIS and certainly none of the characters.**

**I'll post as I edit! Sometimes it'll be a few a day, but I can't make promises. I can however assure you that it will be completed in a timely fashion with regular updates because I am totally obsessive and have to get the ideas out or they stalk me in the shower and while I'm supposed to be doing real work utterly eclipsing real life.**

**Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.**

**Love a review!**

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><p>After the first week of fruitless searching, he had been frustrated. And anxious, yes, very anxious, rubbish feeling, that.<p>

After the second, he had started to despair. Despair was far worse than frustration - well, he was still frustrated, yes, anxious and frustrated and upset. Very not happy feeling. Would he find them? He hadn't sensed anything again, not a peep, and he feared he had been too late.

Now that nineteen days, twenty-three hours and seven minutes had passed with no hint of another Time Lord emergent, he was starting to question everything.

Had he imagined it all in his emotionally devastated state? That could happen, you know, the mind, especially an active one like his could come up with a lot of strange things when he was under enough stress - and, well, stressed barely encompassed what he had been feeling at the time, didn't it? Was it his own grief and loss that he'd been feeling and it had somehow tricked his senses into believing the impossible? Had he dreamed it all? He knew stranger things had happened to him.

His doubt had settled like a fine layer of dust on the determination he had first felt, dulling all certainty. Doubt, however, was infinitely preferable to the sinking feeling that he had simply failed. He banished the possibility that they were gone. They couldn't be. He wouldn't allow it. No.

He had searched everywhere in the system - both moons and all four planets - to no avail. They were simply put, unfindable - was that a word? He spent every second pursuing them, ignoring potential local distress and curiosities, and focused his considerable genius on this one all-important task. He didn't sleep, he didn't tinker - not that she - well, they, really - didn't desperately need it. Both of them needed each other at their best, and neither, in fact, was. Fervour and obstinacy was what fuelled them.

He had dark circles under his eyes and was a cranky bastard, yelling at his ship and cursing her for things that really, definitely weren't her fault. She wasn't in the best shape - still battered from their last disaster of a trip - and couldn't keep up with what he was asking of her, but he couldn't face that if he had just moved - _a few seconds even_ - faster instead of being floored by the pained, cacophonous clamour of thought, he would have been able to get real coordinates. The failure had been his, not hers. He knew it and still had resorted to bringing out the mallet he had been so fond of in his last regeneration on several occasions.

The TARDIS bore his wrath with the patience of a saint. She was as desperately determined as he was, and would endure worse to ensure they found whom they were looking for. She sent him as much strength through their bond as she could spare, and his guilt over how he was treating her was palpable. Several times she replayed the images she had shown him of the violet sky and marketplace with rather more impatience as of late, and still with the puppies. He knew she had to be frustrated that he was being so thick. The last time she'd insisted, he'd snapped at her that he was very well familiar with all that, _thank you_, could she_ please_ move on with something, _anything_ remotely helpful? He yelled that she only wanted fixing and wasn't really trying to help at all. She'd responded with a mental huff, a shock, and refused to acknowledge him for hours.

Garazone Prime had been his best lead. The images his ship had sent him when he'd felt the other Time Lords had without a doubt been there. The Earth-like planet with the violet sky and world-wide market was inhabited by humans and Garans alike, selling intergalactic wares and coexisting peacefully. He had visited many times before to scour the stalls for TARDIS parts - well, parts that could work in the TARDIS with some jiggery pokery. He'd not found actual TARDIS parts since… Yes, right, well, he needed to fix her, he knew. She would be much better able to help him if she were operating properly, so he returned once more to the markets that might yield the parts she required, and if he used the time to look again for his people in addition, so much the better.

He wandered through the piles of space-junk, hardly aware of what he was meant to be looking at, and hoping for a tickle, or nudge, or anything to come to him instead.

With a hand through his locks that refused to stay out of his eyes and a sigh that spoke of despair and utter loneliness, he forced himself to focus and start digging in the pile before him.

He spotted something potentially usable, a Furidurb Graviometer with only a couple smallish cracks - those could be soniced easily. He moved to pick it up when it was rudely snatched by a pair of slender, human hands. He looked up to glare at the owner of the grabby, thieving hands and saw a woman in her late teens or early twenties, hard to tell, that - humans aged so quickly and all - but she looked young.

She was already haggling hard-nosedly with the merchant and ignoring his ire completely. Her inky black hair was cut in a jagged asymmetrical bob that she wore loosely with only the fringe pinned back. She was a pale ivory colour with hints of pink about her cheeks and lips, and her figure tall and lithe. She wore a dark leather trench coat with dark trousers, a black polo-neck, a red scarf that lent the only colour to her rather utilitarian palate, and dusty grey-brown leather boots that came up to her knees. She looked like a hardened soldier with the face of a young girl.

He disliked her instantly.

In all fairness, she _had_ actually gotten to it first, yes, and probably needed it, but, well, he didn't care, did he? He had reasons and needs that would trump any silly repairs to whatever stupid ship she intended it for. He was also tired of these frustrations and determined to win this one battle, right here, right now. He'd get that satisfaction at least.

"I'll pay 100 credits over your asking price if you sell that to me instead," he informed the vendor who looked taken aback, but pleased at the development.

"Ah, yes, sir! Well -"

She cut him off with a motion of her hand but looked at the Doctor appraisingly. "S'cuse you, rude! We're nearly at 'n agreement here! You can' jus' swan in an' steal parts from a girl, y'know? Who d'you think you are, Bow-tie?" she scolded, yes, _scolded_ him.

He instinctively reached up and straightened his tie. He really did not like her.

She returned her attention to the merchant. "Fine then, I'll give you 200 credits above the three from your las' offer. Tha' makes it 500, we have a deal then, yeah?" she pushed.

"I'll give you 700 credits," he challenged, feeling the anger rolling off the raven-haired woman and taking a bit of savage pleasure in her frustration. The vendor looked like he had just been told every day would be Christmas as he looked back at his young patroness to see if she was desperate enough to make a higher bid.

She ignored it and looked the Doctor right in the eyes. "You're a right wanker, you know tha'?"

Normally he would have grinned cheekily and maybe even bowed sarcastically, but her eyes had startled him and he let the moment for a snide retort pass. They were familiar somehow, yet completely foreign and terrible. Honey-coloured and full of fire. They reminded him of… Well, _her_ eyes were much softer and full of very good, wonderful, tender things - things that made him feel like melting butter and contentment. These eyes may have been the same shade, but were contradictory pits of ice and magma and steel. He shuddered involuntarily at the storm raging behind them. This must be what his own looked like when he stared down an enemy. Right terrifying, actually.

Only, _he_ was The Destroyer of Worlds, The Oncoming Storm, and The Predator, not this human girl, and he wouldn't be cowed by some angry little child in a market.

Without taking his eyes from hers, he fished out his credit stick and passed it to the cowering merchant who looked like the only thing he wanted was the two warring buyers safely far, far away from his stall.

She broke first, rolling her wolfish eyes and all but stamping her foot before she stalked away like a wounded bear.

He found the victory tasted less sweet than he anticipated. He _was_ a right wanker, wasn't he? Yes, of course he was.

He ran into her again an hour later reaching for the same Fast Sublight Drive Capacitor - in miraculously rather brilliant condition - that he had just snatched up. She glared daggers at him but didn't challenge him for it. Instead she stalked a short distance away, leaning against a wall and brooded with her arms folded tightly against her chest, looking anywhere but at him.

He studied her from the corner of his eye after he made his purchase. She was... He couldn't put a finger on what she was. Reminiscent of people he'd known, yes, that was the closest description. The way she stood - or well, leaned, was familiar - the way she ducked her head as if she were lost in thought, but her eyes constantly roved and took inventory of her surroundings too was uncannily like someone he'd known but the 'who' in the resemblance remained evasive. Perhaps it was just the haunted behaviour of someone on the run, and well, he was quite familiar with that, wasn't he?

That too had been the second part that they'd both needed, and not exactly run-of-the-mill parts that needed replacing often. He wondered what kind of ship she was flying - or well repairing, she wasn't necessarily the pilot, was she? - that would be so hard on both the gravitational systems and light speed generators. Maybe a Chula ship? It would have to be an extremely old and wholly knackered one, and a right Frankenstein's Monster at that. Maybe an Antarian cruiser?

She was a puzzle, yes. One that he really shouldn't be pondering, he did have more important things to be getting on with, so he shoved the thoughts away and returned to his scavenger hunt.

He ran into her no less than six times before he had amassed most of what he needed and dragged himself back toward the TARDIS, her growing rage evident with each part she was denied, but she didn't try to best him again.

He didn't believe in coincidence, him, and perhaps should have paid better attention to the fact that she had been hovering, or rather was always in sight, but he was flagging and planned to have a much-needed kip before starting on the TARDIS repair.

Just before he slipped down the alley where he had parked his beloved and very sexy timeship, he spotted her huddled together with two men.

Both were taller by a half a head and clad in long coats and slightly ridiculous hats that made distinguishing anything but general details impossible. _Natural perception filters_, he mused, something he was well familiar with. Just mundane enough to escape notice and just off of the norm enough that the average brain couldn't quite grasp what it was seeing and therefore avoided processing.

They weren't speaking, but they were clearly communicating. She seemed to be in charge as they scoured each pile of junk.

Definitely soldiers. Or maybe thieves or con artists. Something not nice.

He shook his head in disgust and strode into his TARDIS. He wasn't here to catch criminals nor solve human puzzles. They'd be gone soon enough - well, unless they were stranded because he had bought all the parts they needed, but it didn't matter, no, not this time. He was quite busy after all.


	3. On the Lash

**A/N: I own the computer on which this was typed. I do not own Doctor Who nor any intellectual property belonging to the BBC.**

**Reviews are welcome and appreciated! **

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><p>He had taken them back into the vortex while he slept and made the repairs. He hadn't wanted to lose the precious hours being on the ground where he couldn't go back and regain them otherwise, so feeling considerably less grumpy and happily more hopeful, he returned only minutes after he'd left in Garazone Prime time ready to find the errant Time Lords.<p>

His new idea consisted of gathering local intelligence. He snorted at the idiom. Intelligence was, after all, relative, and Gallifreyans looked like humans - well, no, humans looked Gallifreyan - anyway, he knew they'd never have spotted the difference, but these were the straws left to grasp, and grasp at them he would.

He started in the pubs, asking questions that earned him raised eyebrows and shakes of the head, and occasionally - not often, only when it seemed like the human or Garan he was speaking with wasn't being entirely forthcoming - and it was important, it was - touching and peeking into a mind here and there. Any self-respecting telepath would have been shocked and appalled at this, that kind of permission-less invasion was not done by respectable people. He felt guilty for it, he really did, especially since he hadn't gleaned anything useful, but it didn't stop him from repeating the performance whenever he felt it necessary.

The orange tinted Garan before him was starting to seem like one such a fellow. "Who're yo lookin' fer ag'in?" he rasped not looking the Doctor in the eye.

"New people, would've come about two or three weeks ago," it was twenty days, five hours and six minutes actually, but no, he didn't need to know that, "maybe caused a disturbance or…?"

The Garan - Tuk, yes, he'd said his name was Tuk, or maybe Tum, didn't matter, never mind - scanned the crowded dance floor and swigged at his beer and frowned. "Nawp, been quiet fer a few months a'leas'. Were a bit o' ruckus few months back but tha' were ages, tha'."

The Doctor had already been extending a hand in his direction when the last bit caught his attention. He pulled back quickly in what he hoped seemed like just a stretch and ran his fingers through his wayward fringe. "What kind of ruckus then?"

"Oh, yo know. Off-worl'ers nickin' thin's outta tha market. Were sorted quick as yo like. Good a' tha', us."

"Yes, yes, of course," he had been to the prisons already and knew they weren't holding any Time Lords but he would be hacking into their databanks nonetheless. This was an actual lead. He'd been completely thick. Of course they could have gotten here months before him, he was an idiot for assuming the timelines would concur. "Wouldn't happen to know the names of the off-worlders, would you?"

"Nawp, on'y tha they were le'out pret'y quick 'cos there weren' no evidence to keep 'em in. Stuff jus' up an' diss'pered. Merchan' who finger'd 'em still won' let 'em near 'er shop."

"Ah, they're still here then?" The Doctor couldn't help the bit of desperation that had seeped into his voice. Tuk merely nodded. "Know what they look like then?"

"Three of 'em, yeah? Two tall blokes an' a lass, an' a bonny lass 't is a' tha'. Don' care much fer tha' humans, me, min' yo, but she's a looker no mat'er wha' species. Tall dark 'air, pale, wears a lotta leather an' a red muffler. Tha blokes stay outta it mos'ly, dunno where, an' when yo see 'em don' make much o' an impression, yeah? Jus' tall an' a bit dodgy. But she's in market mos' days an' she's no' easy ta forget."

"Tuk, I could kiss you!"

"Jus' said I di'n't go fer humans, di'n't i? An' tha name's Tam. "

"Sure it is! Thank you, Tuk! I'll send another round for you!" He motioned to the bartender and bounced off the stool he'd been occupying.

He knew exactly to whom the Garan had been referring and - oh, right, yes. He knew exactly to whom the Garan had been referring. Well. Ok. Slightly, a little more complicated, but not really, nothing serious, he'd only successfully irritated the bloody hell out of her earlier, but ha! She _had_ been a puzzle that had attracted his attention and he'd only grudgingly ignored it! Now he would give himself full license to solve it! It was brilliant!

First, he would pop back to the TARDIS and download the prison records, then he'd seek her out in the morning - well, if she were a Time Lady she wouldn't necessarily need to sleep tonight, but he honestly doubted she was - they were - they looked like children for Rassilon's sake. More likely they had information, and possibly maybe something to do with the disappearance. The seclusion of the men was telling. They had something to hide and didn't want to be noticed, or at least wanted to minimise the noticement - noticement? no, that was rubbish and wasn't a word, but it worked - and they were doing a fairly good job staying off the grid. It was actually impressive that it had taken this long for him to find them - well, maybe he should have just paid attention earlier when she'd caught his eye, and by caught his eye, he meant looked ready to murder him over spare parts.

They'd probably crashed considering what she was buying - or trying to buy - and maybe they had his people imprisoned on the ship, perhaps under heavy sedation or in a binding field. Blimey, what kind of ship _was_ it?

The familiar thrill of a mystery to be solved was coursing through his veins, making his skin and mind buzz and hundreds of thoughts with thousands of possibilities just begging to be analysed.

He practically skipped on his way back to the alley where he'd parked his TARDIS. He could solve this. He knew. Genius, him.

He caught her in the corner of his eye slinking into another pub.

Perhaps a detour was in order. A little quiet observation and study might be just the thing. He slipped quietly in the back door stepping through the fry kitchen, flashing his psychic paper at the cook and nicking a plate of chips as he went. Settling in a back corner that afforded him the best view of the room while being mostly shielded from view, he watched her.

She had shed her leathers but was still more covered than anyone else in the room, save maybe himself. The only skin she showed were hands and face but all eyes seemed drawn to her. She was oozing sensuality and no one in her vicinity was spared. Many reached out to her and tried to pull her in for a dance or just get her attention, but she ignored everyone except a rather short and squat Garan male with ruddy orange skin and pale yellow hair, who looked at her with a lasciviousness that was frankly rather nauseating. He obviously was someone important by the look of his garb - richly embroidered and embellished and made of fabrics not seen anywhere else in the room - and he seemed used to the attention of beautiful women despite his homeliness. She caressed his many chins and pressed her body close to him as they swayed to the music and she let him grope her unashamedly. It was hard to watch, to be honest.

He scanned the crowd quickly and noticed two tall figures near the entry, one keeping eyes on her and the other continually scanning the room. Her subordinates, yes. They were in the middle of a job then.

He turned his attention back to her and saw her pull out of a kiss that had sent the ugly little Garan reeling and gasping for breath. He watched her take the opportunity to shrink into the crowd and slip away back to the men at the door where she quickly slid into her coat and a black straw fedora before the three of them slinked out the door and into the night.

Right. That was his cue to leave.

By the time he'd waded through the bodies and made his own exit, they were at least a kilometre ahead. He hurried to bridge the distance but hung back by ten or so metres. Within earshot for his acute hearing but not so close that he'd draw their attention - he hoped.

"So'd you get it then?" The taller one asked.

"Really? You doubted me? Think I'd go to tha' bloody boozer jus' to be groped by a manky carrot for fun, eh?" she chided playfully then withdrew an acorn-sized, silvery sphere and tossed it in the air. He caught it fluidly and slowed his pace to examine the object. "Not now, you gormless git! An' put it away! We're still on the bleedin' street an' you wanna faff about. God, you're jus' like Dad, you are, completely daft."

"Oi! I just wanted a look!"

"Well, now isn't the time, is it, Dum-dum?"

"You know, you can be a right terror when you're cranky."

"Yeah, well, I've had a pretty-not-very-nice-bad day, haven' I?"

"Better now though, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go put it in, shall we?"

"Yeah. An' I could murder a cuppa. With biscuits. Bagsie the chocolate biscuits. An' the crisps. All of 'em." They both looked down and scowled at her. "Wha' 'bout you then? You're all quiet - er - well, more 'n usual. Wha's goin' on in tha' head of yours, Little Brother?" She looked up in the direction of the shorter man who simply shrugged and kept walking. So, they were siblings, these children, and thieves. Interesting. "Oi! Don' you be cross with me! He was never gonna part with it an' we need it! Don' look at me like tha'! I'm jus' doin' wha' I 'ave to - to take care of _you_ lot!"

"Yeah, I know... sorry, Alpha," the quiet one breathed.

"Look, we get off this rock an' I won' pick another pocket, I promise, yeah?"

"Yeah." Obviously he didn't believe her, but he loosened up considerably, though that may have been due to the distance they had now put between themselves and the pub where they had just robbed a man.

He wondered if Alpha was really her name or some sort of code assigned to her. It wasn't a human name, or at least not a name that _nice_ human parents gave their daughters. Maybe they were clones. Renegade clone soldiers made a certain kind of sense.

The brothers - he was calling them Dum-dum and Little Brother - flanked Alpha a step or two behind as they trotted down the dark, empty streets. They approached a park and disappeared into a small copse of violet-leafed trees. When he caught up and entered the thicket, he'd completely lost them. He wandered around the pitch and thickets for an hour and twenty-eight minutes before admitting that they'd given him the slip. He used his sonic to scan for any cloaked ships in the area but all scans came back negative.

Bollocks.

He had a choice. He could return to the TARDIS and get the prison records, or he could wait them out. They'd have to come out again some time, and he _could_ be patient… it wasn't easy or pleasurable, no, but he _could_... or he could go back to the TARDIS and move her here… Kill two birds with one stone, as it were, only he wouldn't be killing any birds, why would he want to do that? Birds were good, but the idea was sound and he dashed back the way he'd come to his Sexy.

He was halfway there when a small stone hit him on the shoulder with enough force to smart.

"Ow!" he moaned and spun around to see who had chucked it at him.

"'S wha' you get for followin' me around all day, you pervy sod." Alpha was glaring at him not four metres away. He hadn't heard her approach. It was unsettling.

"What? No, no! I haven't been following you! Well, maybe a little, but certainly _not_ _all_ day! _You_ were following _me!_ Through the market!" He ranted.

Her arching black eyebrows contracted as she regarded him, but the look was more appraising than hostile.

"Who're you, then?" she postulated with eyes narrowed.

"John Smith," he answered without hesitation. If she was dangerous enough to hold Time Lords prisoner, there would be no sense in adding another to the ranks.

For a split second, her eyes flashed with something - recognition? trepidation? longing? what had that been? - but her face remained the appraising mask.

"And your name, Miss?"

"Selene Woolfe. I noticed you behind us a while before we lost ya. Not very good at tha', are you?"

"Oi! I'll have you know I'm very good at tailing people - excellent even!"

She grinned for the first time and it lit up her entire being, "Tha's why you stomped behind us like a bilgesnipe an' lost us in 'bout two seconds once we hit the trees, eh?"

He couldn't help returning her smile, but his guard remained intact. He knew she was capable of being whatever she thought the situation called for to get what she wanted. He'd just witnessed it first hand in the pub, after all. Maybe she was hoping to pinch one of the parts he'd bought earlier, though they were all safely installed, she wasn't to know that.

"So, are you jus' a rude nutter tha' follows an' steals space junk from young women, or were you comin' to apologise for your behaviour t'day?" she teased amicably.

"Well, actually I saw you nick that orb and got curious." There. Just enough truth to throw her off and not enough to arouse suspicion.

She winced. Yes, very, very good.

"Yeah, alrigh'. I've been after tha' bit for months, but tha' nasty bastard wouldn' give it up unless I shagged 'im, an' he's been real pushy 'bout it too, so I nicked it. Happy? He got to squeeze my bum an' a snog out of it so I'd say we're quits, yeah?"

"Who were the men with you?"

"My brothers. Only got each other."

"What happened to your ship?"

""S not finished yet."

That _did_ take him aback. "You're building a ship from nothing? As in, the ground up, no modifying an existing hull?" Ah, that explained the piecemeal monster he had envisioned before.

She just stared at him.

"Can I see it?"

"Spaceship expert, are you?" she furrowed her brows again.

"Well, more of an enthusiast, actually."

"I dunno. 'S our home, ya know? Bit like asking you back to my flat after two chats tha' were more of arguments, really. Be a bit strange."

"I've been told I am a bit."

"Yeah, me too."

"All the greatest people have been, you know," he said as charmingly as he could.

"Yeah, we're in good comp'ny," she chuckled almost grudgingly.

"The best."

"Cheers."

She shifted from foot to foot for a second or two as she looked over her shoulder, then heaved a sigh and brushed her silky black hair behind her ears with both hands and swallowed.

Shaking her head, she allowed the words to leave her lips like she was having to force them out. "Look, I can' jus' show up 'ome with you in tow, my brothers'd go batty," her accent always seemed to thicken when she was uncomfortable, he filed this away for the future, "but meet me in the park in the mornin' an' I'll talk to 'em tonight. Maybe you can 'elp us - a bit - since you're obviously familiar with some o' the systems we're tryin'a run." She didn't wait for a reply. She simply turned on her heel and took off silently - how was she _that_ quiet? - running back the way she'd come without a goodbye.

Still, he'd managed an invite exactly where he'd wanted one.

When he opened the doors to the TARDIS, he was feeling happier than he had in months and preened to his ship accordingly. "Oh, Sexy. I am _good_."


	4. In the Wolf's Den

**A/N: I don't own nor profit from Doctor Who. Writing this disclaimer over and over has crushed my dreams.**

**A little different. Woolfe children chapter.**

**AAAaaand review.**

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><p>The Alpha stole her way silently through the shadows back to her waiting family.<p>

He'd been different than she was expecting. Not that she'd been expecting him exactly, well, maybe a bit, eventually, but not before they'd be ready for him.

Honestly, it felt like it was still far too soon, they'd barely been here six months - well, five months twenty-eight days, twelve hours and two minutes to be exact - but their beautiful baby was nowhere near ready for travel and it might be months before another delivery of random ship bobbins that never promised much. Getting her here had been hard enough and the cost… well, some costs will always feel too dear to pay whether one has a choice or not.

Still, they had grieved enough - because well, it hadn't been like when Dad… no she wasn't dead… just… and they had mourned. Her brothers still could be caught weeping when they thought no one was looking - even though they could talk to her anytime, well, not yet anytime, but soon anytime - and maybe she hadn't cried, wouldn't ever because it was up to her to take care of them all now, and she'd always know that the day would come, but she _had_ mourned and enough was enough, yes. The only way any of them would feel better would be to keep moving, stay active and on their toes until they _could_ really go somewhere. It was time to move on and _live_ life and she and her family had squatted on worse rocks than Garazone Prime.

Her dad used to reminisce sometimes with her mum about visits to the planet. Her mum had loved the shops and her dad the scavenging for hidden junk treasure and the peace was always well maintained in the system - for the most part - not many trips here had resulted in running for their lives. Her mum was always the one who pointed that out though and her father would grumble that she'd never complained before.

Perhaps the relative safety had been what prompted her mum to bring them, perhaps she simply knew they'd need to be grounded somewhere with a roaring trade in space junk, whatever the case, she was ultimately glad they were there - even if she _had_ been arrested soon after arrival - but that hadn't been her fault! If Lios hadn't been furiously trying to get her to put it all back, which was completely barmy since they were skint at the time and they _needed_ the coils, would have _lost Mum_ for good without them, they'd have gotten away without a peep, and they'd still be able to go to the shop with all the living circuits. Not a single shop like it on-world either. At least she'd managed to hide it all in a concealed inner pocket and they'd used it as sparingly as possible.

She needed to talk to her mum, though. She'd definitely be doing that tonight, now she could, or well, would be able to. Soon. The piece she'd filched at the expense of a highly offensive taste on her tongue and the lingering stench of a randy Garan minger, was the ticket. And Mum would know what to do about 'John Smith.' She was the 'John Smith' expert after all.

His face was so young, she'd wanted to laugh when she realised who he was. Not that he'd been in control of what he would look like, but honestly! He looked like he could be her only slightly older brother, not her - well he wasn't that anyway, now was he? He'd never met her before, and she didn't know the man he'd become, not really. Didn't matter. Only thing that did was the next step forward.

The triplets had a clear ending destination, had always had a clear end, but the footpath was currently a boggy one. They were without both their parents for the first time in 127 years. The Alpha stepped into the leadership role she'd been born for, but was thrown for a proverbial loop with the Doctor's appearance. She'd hoped he would remain ignorant to their existence until their ship was in top form at least. She hated not having an exit strategy always in place. That's what had come from a life on the run, she supposed. Her mum and dad would always have one before they set foot in any building, and were always scanning for potential threats to their children and themselves. They were anomalies in a universe that wasn't made for them, after all.

She'd arrived at the entrance to the ship without realising, she'd been so lost in thought. The hidden door flew open on the wide lavender 'tree trunk' and Torin's warm brown eyes searched hers expectantly.

"_Well?_"

"Ye-p. Was 'im alright," she said stepping inside, shucking her coat and casting it aside. Lios was sitting cross-legged by the dimly shining console, fiddling with the sphere she'd pinched earlier. He looked up at her and held the device out in a mute entreaty.

"Blimey, not really what I expected, him."

"Tell me 'bout it. He wants to… er... visit tomorrow." They both started at this proclamation but she ignored Torin's gasping-fish face and Li's penetrating stare. She palmed the silvery orb between her hands then twisted. It opened immediately, revealing three tiny golden wires and started to glow. Both her brothers looked annoyed that she had opened it in less than a second. "Should give her the boost she needs then, which couldn't be better, actually. I need talk to Mum," she informed her brothers.

"Selene…" Lios started. Her golden honey eyes snapped to his icy blue and he furrowed his blond brows. He only called her that when he needed her to really take his meaning or to stop her from, well, whatever honestly. He was the only one that could keep her in line, and Torin was usually busy aiding her in her shenanigans anyway. Lios was quiet, intense, observant and cautious. She relied on him to see into her blind spots.

"Wha's up then, Li?" she nearly whispered.

"Even with this, it's never enough to bring her and it'd be wasted in one go. You can't. Not yet."

The Alpha only nodded to her youngest brother and made for the makeshift galley for a cuppa. As thoroughly dischuffed as she felt at the news she would have to wait even longer to see her Mum again, she really was going to eat an entire box of biscuits.

Torin had followed her. He obviously wasn't done asking about the Doctor.

"So, how'd you tell? I mean how - what did he say? Does he - er - know who…?"

She opened a cubby and pulled out a box of chocolate biscuits and a few packets of pickled ginger flavoured Monster Munch. "Naw, couldn' tell 'im anythin' without my brothers with me, could I?" Torin smiled at her and she returned it gladly then reached out to touse his long chestnut curls. "'Sides, maybe once he knows, he'll scarper. Could do, you know? Dad always said he was a right coward sometimes." Her brother open his mouth to object but she continued like she hadn't noticed. "An' I jus' knew. Think it was when we argued tha' firs' time. He got all hard an' a bit dicky in the eyes, was scary, to be honest. Only seen it once before with Dad an' I didn' like it then either. I mean, once he said he was called 'John Smith' I _really_ knew but… I jus' knew 'cos 's still 'im - sort of, innit?… Doesn' really matter, though, does it? He won' be stayin'."

"Yeah, but…"

"But wha'? Seriously, only thing we knew we could count on was gettin' 'ere, yeah? We don' need 'im anyway. It'll always jus' be us three in the end. 'S always how we planned it."

"But I thought you said he asked to come?"

"Yeah, but tha's 'cos he doesn' know any better, does he? I s'ppose you should go get Lios. We should be all t'gether for this, I think."

Torin nodded and shut his gob, sensing his sister was on edge, and went in search of his sibling while she nibbled her biscuit and put the kettle on.

Once the tea had been poured and the three were gathered around the table with their nibbles and mugs, the Alpha opened the discussion.

"Us three could use a bit of help, yeah? Sortin' things here, gettin' ready. It'd speed things up to get advice an' the like, maybe even a trip for a part or four. An' tha's good, but it isn' our only option. Dad left us with all the instructions we _really_ need, an' we could do on our own. Take longer, yeah, but might be safer. Can' really risk anythin', 'specially right now, yeah? While she's recoverin' from the crossin' an' so much got destroyed when Mum… yeah. I don' know wha' to think. I was countin' on… but never mind tha' now. I can't ignore tha' the Doctor might be here for a reason, but I also can't ignore tha' we're unprotected an' young an' inexperienced an' alone while our TARDIS heals. All this worry may be for nowt 'cos who knows how tha' daft old man will react to us, but I've already gotten the feelin' tha' he really doesn' like me an' it could go pear-shaped right quick. I need to hear wha' you both think."

The brothers stared at each other for a few minutes before Lios dropped his eyes and a silent agreement was reached. Their older - well, twenty-three minutes and forty seconds older still counted as older - sister would make the final decision as always, and quite right too, but the way they posed their arguments would undoubtably sway her. Torin knew by his brothers submission that Lios would argue caution because that was what Selene expected of him, but he secretly agreed with his brother and it was up to Torin to convince her. His younger brother would argue first, but not as hard as he might, then Torin would swoop in and seal the deal with some rather brilliant and well-timed positives and voilà! _Molto Bene!_ They'd be having a cuppa with their father - no! he didn't mean that, he meant the Doctor! Crikey, he'd better watch his gob or he'd blow it - with the Doctor in the morning. He began tapping his toes and opened one of the bags of crisps.

"Selene," Lios began.

Oi! That was cheating, that was! Torin nearly growled in his displeasure.

"I think we need the Doctor." Lios gave his brother and sister one of his rare sunlight filled grins that turned the chips of ice in his eyes into oceans of joy and tranquility as they both let their jaws hang open in surprise.

The Alpha recovered more quickly than her middle brother, picking her jaw up off the floor and nodding once to Lios. She then turned to Torin to get either his rebuttal or confirmation.

For once, Torin found himself without words. Was he supposed to argue? What was Li playing at? He ran his hands over his long curly hair a couple times to buy time, but it wouldn't do. He'd never argue for something he didn't believe, even for his sister, and he was utterly devoted to her. "I agree with Lios." was all he managed to choke out, still just gobsmacked.

"Yeah, ok," was her only reply. She'd never give voice to how much this path frightened her, nor how part of her felt they were betraying her father's memory, nor that she'd been hoping they wouldn't ask her to lead them in this direction - and so very soon, _too soon -_ where she wouldn't be able to stay, and they'd find so many reasons to do. The thought of being parted from the two beings that were the hearts beating on each side of her chest shattered her, yet they couldn't stay children forever, and this shadow had loomed ever nearer throughout their collective memories.

She'd always had the strongest time sense, and forced the stinging tears behind her eyes to shove off as she watched her brothers' each slowly begin to shimmer into view before her - still faint yes, but present, and she could only see them if they weren't tightly bound to her own. She resisted the urge to go back on their agreement to meet with the Doctor.

The first of the flood waters had broken when they crossed the void, now the storm was approaching, waters were rising and the dam would break.

They all stood and exited the galley silently and headed to the console room where the large palette awaited them. Without any more words they all settled in seeking the comfort of closeness that only children born in multiples share. The Alpha in the middle, her Beta on her left, and Omega on her right. They didn't sleep often - and it was almost always for comfort rather than need - but they'd never slept singly nor in any other positions than this familial embrace that re-affirmed their connection and bond. The men instinctively curled into her surrounding and protective with an ear at each of her hearts, fingers interlacing, the way that they had from the time of earliest infancy when they weren't aware of anything beyond the six hearts beating between them.


	5. Tea and Time Lords

**A/N: Don't own 'em. Wish I did, but I don't.**

**Let me hear from you!**

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><p>Having had a kip before making his repairs, the Doctor saw no reason to wait for morning, and instead jumped forward a few hours, re-parking closer to the pitch where he was to meet with Alpha, or 'Selene Woolfe' as she was calling herself.<p>

He gorged on a plateful of jammy dodgers and nursed a cup of tea sweetened with Venusian honey, before making to leave.

On his way out the doors, the TARDIS nudged him.

He stopped for a moment by the time rotor and stroked the console lovingly.

She sent him a wave of warning that contained hints of admonishment and that blasted image of puppies, thoroughly confusing him.

"I'll be careful, Sexy. I will."

Impatience and exasperation hit him like a slap to the back of his head.

"Oi, what was that for?"

Image of puppies.

"I don't want a dog! Cor! You're getting demanding, you are! And you won't like having one here either!"

Puppies again followed by a wave of love and affection, which most certainly were not directed at him, oh no, because not half a second later she shocked the fingertips resting on her console. He put the hurt fingers in his mouth and glared at the time rotor.

"What was that for, then? Because I won't bring you home a hairy little beast that will chew parts of you off, you daft cow?"

A short message in Gallifreyan appeared on the monitor.

_Be nice._

Lovely.

"What are you on about then, eh?" he asked as the monitor went dark again.

She sent an image of a black wolf, then the message popped back onto the screen.

_Be nice._

"What? You've never even met her and already you're telling me off for things I haven't begun to contemplate doing!"

She shocked the fingers touching the monitor.

"Watch it! Or I'll disconnect something you need, you mental box of wires!"

Electricity hummed threateningly from the metal surfaces around him.

"Fine! I'll _be nice_!" he shouted and stalked outside before she could shock him again. She really was getting out of hand lately.

Fingers still in his mouth, he emerged from the alley and looked down the half-block toward the park where he instantly spotted the leather-clad woman watching him with an amused smile playing about her lips. He waved and dried his fingers on his jacket before advancing.

As he approached, she eyed his burned fingers with furrowed brows. "Hurt yourself?"

He scowled, "My ship…" he muttered, "repairs, you know, can be tricky and all that. Good morning! Sleep well?"

"Yeah, not bad, I s'ppose. Had any nosh yet? My brothers are waitin' down at the tea shop. Or 's a pub open not too much further down the way tha' makes brilliant Scotch eggs…"

"NO! Yugh! Gah! _Why_ would you even…? Scotch eggs are evil! How - how can you eat those?" His panicked look melted into a suspicious glare. "You trying to poison me, eh?" He shuddered at the thought of the fried meat-wrapped nasties.

"Really?" She shook her head with undisguised amusement and puzzlement in a tight-lipped, crooked smile. "Tea then," she breezed, "come along, _John Smith_, places to be an' all," and set off graceful and silent at her brisk pace, leaving him staring after her open mouthed at her audacity to order him about. She was obviously used to making the calls and not waiting for input or opposition. He wondered how her brothers liked that.

Bit rude, it was - she was. He'd had his tea - did she ask? no! she did _not_. He was impatient to go straight off to this ship that had eluded his search efforts and held the promise of answers, but he resigned himself to moving at her pace and keeping things friendly - well, until they couldn't be - _if_ they couldn't be - any longer.

He still didn't like her - well, he didn't think he did, no, she was, well, too much like him, now he thought about it but he had lived over 1000 years and this _child_ shouldn't be ordering him about. Well, she didn't know how old he was, actually, now he considered it properly, and he did have a young - and rather charming - face this time, didn't he? Perhaps, no, most likely she assumed he was around her age, so bossing him should be forgiven, he supposed. Some people were just that way. No, no, he probably, definitely should reserve judgement.

Still, she'd shouted at him, and referred to him as 'Bow-tie,' and called him a wanker, and thrown a stone at him, and followed him about, and sneaked up on him, then ordered him about, and was delaying what she'd promised the night before, and was secretive, definitely hiding something. Shifty, her. Yes, he had reason to dislike her.

"You comin' or wha'?" she called from nearly a half a kilometre up the high-street. "Chivvy on!"

Right, yes! He flailed his hands and padded after her.

She didn't slow to wait and ducked into a little shop before he could reach her. When he approached the table he had tea already poured for him and a jam butty waiting. That was friendly at least. He picked it up and stuffed half of it into his mouth, filling it to bursting.

Three sets of eyes were watching him intently.

"O'lo'ere," he said as he chewed.

The taller man with shoulder length brown curls grinned dazzlingly, while Alpha shook her head and rolled her eyes, and the man with gravity defying blond hair and eyes like the frozen waves on Women Wept remained stonily impassive.

"So, _John Smith_," Why did she keep saying his name like that? Like it was a private joke at his expense? He furrowed his brows and pushed back his fringe with one hand. "I'd like you to meet my brothers." She indicated the man with brown curls to her left with a thumb over her shoulder then hesitated for a second and swallowed, interesting… "This is Torin, an' tha's" the other thumb pointed to the blond with the inscrutable face, "Li - righ', sorry, Lios."

"Pleasure, lads. Does your sister drive you as mad as she's made me over the last two days? Right nightmare, isn't she? Don't know how you manage, to be honest. She chucked a stone at me - _hit_ me with a stone to get my attention last night, you know, I've got a bruise and everything," he grinned now that his mouth was no longer full of jammy bread.

Shock registered on all three faces for a tick, then Torin guffawed and Lios chuckled while her brows knitted together and her face went a bit red.

"Oi! Whose side 're you lot on anyway?" She smacked both of them on the arms with the backs of her hands. Lios sobered immediately, while Torin laughed louder, nicked the rest of her butty and shoved it in his gob in one go.

"Eugh!" He let the half-chewed sandwich roll out of his mouth and onto the floor as he began furiously scrubbing at his tongue with a cloth from the table. "_Marmite!_ You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

That one he liked right off.

"No one told you to be a grabby git! Not my fault you pop things in your mouth tha' don' belong there, is it? An' you might enjoy it if you gave it half a chance! 'S nice!" The girl seemed more outraged that he'd insulted her taste buds than stolen her breakfast.

"Tried feeding me Scotch eggs earlier," the Doctor confided. Torin looked suitably horrified. "She's got to be stopped."

The girl was scowling and still red-faced as the silent brother drew her into an embrace and she relaxed slightly.

Taking in the three of them together gave him a strange feeling, a bit of a niggle, and he tried to absorb the picture they painted.

They looked incredibly close in age, in fact, he'd be very extremely hard-pressed to tell you who belonged where in the birth order. As far as looks went, they were different enough that they might not actually be related - none of them shared hair nor eye colours nor an exact build type, and each had his own affected manner of dress.

Alpha looked like she was armouring herself against the world with her leather and utilitarian colour palate that covered nearly every inch of flesh from view. Her face was angular with high cheekbones and arching, inky-black eyebrows, her jaw was square, and her lips pouty and red against the ivory colour of her skin. And of course her eyes were the colour of warm honey even if they didn't conjure up the same feeling when looked into. She didn't smile often, mostly dead-panning her wisecracks, and she moved like a predatory animal.

Torin seemed a bit more ostentatious and preferred a striped blue suit and a jumper in a violent shade of purple under the large brown overcoat he wore to hide himself from the world. He was the tallest and most gangly of the lot, seemed unaffected by the madness in front of him and smiled and laughed easily. He seemed… goofy. His face was more pinched than angular and conveyed much more openness than either of the others. His eyes were a warm brown like his mop of curly hair that was longer than his sister's and covered rather prominent ears. He was openly affectionate with the other two which they didn't seem to mind but didn't initiate.

Lios seemed the most enigmatic and was certainly not chatty in the way his siblings were. He was only a bit taller than his sister but the opposite in colouring. He was pale blond with short hair that pointed skyward with seemingly little effort, and had softer, rounder features. He remained mostly buried in his own oversized brown trench, but the Doctor could make out a bit of green velvet over a silver waistcoat underneath. He watched the Doctor watching them, took in every being that entered and exited the shop, and, the Doctor had no doubt, still caught every word being said around him. His eyes looked cold, but they spoke of a buried tenderness and vulnerability as well.

Three utterly mismatched children, yet they shared a commonality that was undeniable as well. They were all quite tall, sleek like runners, but the similarity was beyond physicality. They _fit_ together in a way that couldn't be articulated. They belonged, would be irrevocably damaged if they were separated. The girl seemed infinitely more relaxed in the presence of her brothers, and far less likely to explode when goaded. These children were integral to each other in a way he'd never understand.

He decided to peek at their timelines, and found that they were invisible to him.

Interesting.

They would have a mutual importance, he and they, for good or ill, then.

"So why do you speak differently than your brothers, then? Are you all really related, or are you a family only in name? Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you, love an adopted family. Best kind there is, actually, in my experience, but you're all very different. Just wondering, you know," the Doctor blustered, unable to keep his mind from straying to the Ponds, and busied himself with his flowery teacup as he spoke.

"Oh, that's just because she talks like Mum and we don't. We're triplets, actually, even if we don't look it. The genetics in our family are batty and confusing and full of strange possibilities that resulted in us as we live and breathe. Funny story, that," Torin blurted carelessly, swigging his tea and preparing to carry on when his sister shot him a scathing look and he shrank back into his seat, properly chastened.

"Yeah? Mum from London then?" the Doctor countered.

Torin glanced at Alpha but remained quiet. They really did have a remarkable dynamic, didn't they.

"Yeah," she answered finally, but said no more.

"Earth then? How did you find yourselves all the way on Garazone Prime?"

Alpha seemed to be mulling over how to answer this when Lios leaned forward instead.

"We crashed here. We were born on Earth, but left when we were very young. Only been here about six Earth-months." He turned to meet his sister's furious gaze, refusing to break under the intensity, and the Doctor was positive these three shared at least a low-level telepathic connection. Those two were shouting at each other behind their eyes.

The girl finally jumped up out of her chair and stalked heavily out the exit, but the flaxen brother ignored her.

The Doctor didn't like feeling confused - as a matter of fact, was getting angry as he was through putting up with all the evasion and mystery - and was about to demand the truth when blue eyes met his, and a warm golden pulsing filled the back of his mind. The heady feeling left him a bit dazed since he hadn't been shielding at all, but the presence went no further than the mental 'hello' so to speak.

"We haven't been very forthcoming with you, Doctor, and I think it's time you had the truth."


	6. A Young TARDIS

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who nor profit from the writing of this story. Weeell, excepting creative satisfaction. But not monetary. The profit is all in the joy!**

**I do promise you real Rose Tyler in the future, but some plot points have to be covered first! I'm getting excited!**

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><p>The Doctor couldn't respond for a few minutes. He was so overcome with the whirlpool of emotion and thought that it was all he could do not to cry out or jump from his seat and tackle the young man in an embrace that would send them both sprawling on the floor. The first time he'd felt them, their pain had been so great and the connection had been so brief that the relief - the indescribable need for another presence in his mind finally being fulfilled when he'd believed for so long that he'd never have it again - didn't factor. Now though… He stared agape at the miracle before him without breathing long after his repertory bypass kicked in. Question after question ran amok in his brain but no sound escaped his lips. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak and it was the other brother -Torin, yes - that recalled him to his senses.<p>

"Crikey, that's new, innit? A speechless Doctor? Well done, Li. You gonna sit there all day then, Doctor? Did he break you? That'd be a laugh, wouldn't it? The Doctor stuck in a tea shop on Garazone Prime for all of eternity after meeting his three Time Lord ch-chums! Well, could be, maybe, chums that is. Fantastic story for the grandchildren one day! C'mere Johnny and Suzie, did I ever tell you about the time I shattered the man that saved the universe loads of times? In a tea shop too! Brilliant!" He smoothed his curls nervously on the sides of his head and shoved the big brown coat from his shoulders and it puddled around the back of him. The silence stretched for another minute after his little speech and he began drumming his fingers on the table and wiggling a foot. "Well, you must have something to say, yeah? You do care, right? I mean, Alpha said you'd probably just do a runner, but you haven't, have you? Well, I mean, if you wanted to just get out of it, you could've done, so yeah. Say something, will you?"

"Shut up, Torin."

"Oi! You don't boss me! I boss you, remember? I'm older by eleven minutes and seventeen seconds! Respect your elders!"

"Let the man have a moment!"

"He's had nine minutes and thirty-one seconds already! It's driving me mad just sitting here!"

"Go on then and get out of it! Go find Alpha if you can't sit quiet, anything to shut that almighty gob!"

"Oi! I don't want to be chucked out because she's too stubborn to let go of her fear, and I'll remind you again, I'm older! You go after her, then. I don't want to be the one she rages at when _you're_ the one that did it. How's that meant to be fair that I'd have to - Wait a tick, shut up! He's comin' round now."

The Doctor looked at them but still had no idea where to begin, so instead he reached his own mind out and greeted them both warmly with a nudge.

They both grinned and chimed a simultaneous, "Hello."

"I don't know where to begin." The Doctor's voice sounded strained even to his own ears, and it was true, he didn't. These men were impossible, and he had believed the worst about them not twenty minutes ago. They talked about being born - not loomed - and had said they came from Earth - to whom did they belong? And how? _How?_ Were they… Were they Susan's? That couldn't have been possible. She'd been loomed as well and had carried the same curse of sterility as all Gallifreyans. "How…? How."

Torin grinned maniacally again. "Probably best if we don't go into it here, yeah? Want to meet our ship?"

"Meet your… Oh. Oh! You have a… Yes!" They had a _TARDIS_! Of course they did. They were utterly impossible, so of course they had an utterly impossible TARDIS. "Yes, please."

They led him to the copse he had once searched fruitlessly and walked right up to a tree with lavender bark. Torin inserted a key into a prominent knot. Chameleon circuit! Not cloaking device! No wonder! It hadn't been invisible, it had been hiding in plain sight! He opened the doors with a flourish and bowed to the Doctor.

"Won't you come in, sir? Wonders await!"

"He's got a TARDIS, idiot," Lios rolled his eyes. "He's not going to be impressed."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. I've been inside hundreds of Time and Relative Dimension in Space ships, and they are always wondrous and impressive," the Doctor smiled, "And this is one of the only two left in the universe, of course I'll be impressed." A pang of fear and dread stabbed at his hearts. What if they didn't know about the Time War? What if they were trying to get back to Gallifrey, and he'd just killed their hopes - in addition to the the planet they sought - with a few careless words? No shock registered, however, and they all filed in.

It wasn't the most beautiful ship he'd ever seen, not by a long shot. It looked as if it had been thoroughly battered and it was quite small in comparison to his own with the console filling much of the space in the room and one set of stairs leading off to the only adjoining room marked in the circular language of his people as the galley. A small alcove contained a sleeping area sunk into the grated metal floor and wires and parts were haphazardly piled everywhere.

No, it was not the most beautiful ship he'd ever encountered, but it was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. Gorgeous! Brilliant! Fantastic and magnificent!

The brothers were eyeing him - Lios with feigned nonchalance, as if the Doctor's opinion on the subject were of little import to him, and Torin with unfettered hope and anticipation.

"Well?" he breathed with a vulnerable smile.

The Doctor's face lit up with a thousand megawatt smile that was completely genuine. "It's bigger on the inside."

The roar of laughter that followed from both lads was music to the old man's ears.

"She's brilliant! What type is she?"

"Type 40," Torin answered. "Bit knackered. She closed all her rooms but these when she crashed - not that she had many, mind you, just two bedrooms, a library, and the galley, but, well, she's amazin', yeah?"

"Absolutely. Why so small? I mean, I too have a Type 40, you know, and well, only five rooms?"

"Well, she's still a baby! Hasn't had time to grow as large on the inside."

"How old then?" That made about as much sense as naturally born Time Lords on planet Earth. Where the devil had they gotten TARDIS coral to grow if she was still this small? Completely barmy.

"129. She started growing when we were still cookin' in Mum. Wouldn't grow before that, actually, no matter what Dad tried."

"Yeah, that's going to take some explaining, I think. None of you lot is exactly possible, you know."

Both men grinned again, but it was the younger man that spoke this time.

"Impossible doesn't exist in our family."

"Yeah," his brother joined, "we eat it for elevenses."

"Breathe it like oxygen."

"Wear it to church on Sundays!"

"And then bin it because it's rubbish!" they finished together, laughing.

When the Doctor didn't immediately cotton on, Lios continued, "Grab a bit of floor, Doctor. It's quite the story and it'll take a while. Would be easier if we just showed you." He touched his own temple to explain, and the Doctor was bowled over once again that he was standing in a young TARDIS with two young Time Lords that were filling the void in his mind for the first time in hundreds of years.

As if someone had started to roll the reel on a film, the memories began, but they didn't belong to the blond man projecting them, no. The memory he was currently speeding through was one of his own - sort of.

And it started on a lonely beach.

_He was kissing Rose Tyler with an armful of TARDIS coral as a Blue Box faded away with a whoosh that was barely discernible over the crashing waves._

_Then she was tearing away from him and screaming for the Blue Box to come back, dissolving into tears and sinking into the sand where she wouldn't move or speak to anyone for the next five hours and thirty-five minutes._

_He scooped her into his arms after that and cradled her to his chest_ _the entire Zeppelin ride back to London._

_She wouldn't look at him, and as soon as they arrived, she bolted from him, and hid in Pete's town car._

_This memory faded into day after day of knocking on Rose Tyler's bedroom door and sitting on the floor just outside talking at her with no response. He told her about himself then. Told her everything. Held nothing back about who he'd been, the things he'd seen and done, and the monster he'd eventually become and his role in the Time War. It took weeks to get through it all, and she never responded, even though he would start early in the morning and not leave until he could no longer keep his eyes open at night. Servants brought them both trays, but he never saw her face even once while he told her his stories. He told her about losing his will to live after the war was over and he'd murdered them all. He told her how he'd gone looking for the worst situations he could get himself into, all in the hopes that he might be killed and never regenerate. Eventually, he talked about finding himself in a shop basement in London, and a blonde girl that was nearly killed by Autons until he took her hand and told her to run. He told her he'd been smitten with her the moment to looked into the girl's eyes and had never before asked anyone to go with him twice. He told her what that little pink and yellow human meant to him almost immediately. How the girl made him feel like pieces of himself weren't lost forever and that he had a purpose with a future to move toward. He told her about every time he almost kissed her. He told her about every time he was on the verge of doing much more than just kissing her. He told her about the fear he'd had of losing her - his lifeline and link to life - and how that thought shattered and haunted him. He told her about the worst day of his life and standing against a white wall for hours. He told her about the years he spent floating in the vortex immediately after researching and looking for some way - any way to get to her. He told her about the second worst day of his life when he saw her sobbing on a cold lonely beach and he failed to tell her how much he loved her, instead saying the most daft things imaginable and running out of time. _

_That was when she finally opened the door. She didn't come out, but the invitation was clear._

_This faded into a wedding with the most beautiful bride in any universe and the luckiest bastard as her bridegroom._

_Years of memories of adventures working for Torchwood and trying futilely to get the TARDIS to grow. Frustration and despair that they both felt because they were restless missed the stars. Years of staring into the mirror and seeing grey hair and lines forming while his incredible wife stayed young and impossible. Running test in the dead of night to try and keep her secret. Nicking a perception filter so that she would appear to look older.  
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_Then an anniversary dinner in the quiet of their back garden and a gift of baby trainers._

_Elation._

_A first scan at the doctor's office where he was informed they would be having six - six - babies! Running his own scans and hearing the six beating hearts and knowing he was really having three children. The fear when Rose didn't look pregnant even after six months, even though she was carrying three babies. The worry he felt constantly. They'd told everyone but her family that she'd lost the babies to hide the alien nature of her predicament. The mad scramble to figure out what to do. Time Lords didn't exist in this universe outside of the three in her belly and he had no TARDIS library to go searching through for historical information. He was as unprepared and lost as she was. They floundered and fought. It seemed like they'd separate for a while, she even packed her bags a few times, but he couldn't allow that. He needed her and his children so very, very badly, so he fought for her as hard as he fought any war in his life. It made them stronger in the end._

_She started to show after eight months. They played it off like she had just gained a bit of weight. After twelve they announced she was pregnant again. After eighteen months the whispers began. After twenty he started trying to find a ship to take them off-world. By twenty-two months they were on the run, her entire family killed in an 'accident' and a global man-hunt was in progress for the two of them. After twenty-nine months, Rose was too big and knackered to run and he had a lead on a ship. At twenty-nine and a half, they had a space craft in desperate need of repair. At thirty Rose went into labour._

_After three days, twelve hours and fifteen minutes, he had a glorious daughter that was the very image of her mother and two perfect sons. And a wife that looked like she'd never let him touch her again._

_They ran. He'd gotten the ship in working order before his children were a year old and they scarpered. _

_Their days were filled with exploration once again, and he and his wife hadn't been as happy in years. He had days full of family and adventure and nights full of Rose. It was sheer bliss. _

_The children grew exceptionally slow. He explained to his wife that the time energy in that universe made it harder for them to develop at a normal growth rate. The same problem they faced with the TARDIS coral - which had started developing some time after Rose had first established a telepathic connection with the babies in her belly. Ten years passed before his children were no longer tots but they were brilliant. Completely genius. They slept - when they slept - in the same bed curled around each other, limbs entwined, and would always waken simultaneously. Always inseparable. _

_His daughter was his pride and joy, all pink and yellow and fiery like her mother and as adventurous and energetic like her father. Completely fearless. Brain like a sponge, and a thirst for truth and justice. His sons followed her around like ducklings earning them their nicknames Alpha, Beta, and Omega like the little wolf pack that they were. She often spoke for all three, and they obeyed her directives like gospel._

_His sons began to look like him and he revelled in their energy and wit. His middle son took most after him as he was - quirks, charm and gob - all limbs and manic energy, completely knackering his parents daily with his running and inquisitive nature. More than once he'd driven his mum to distraction by taking apart every appliance they owned to build some idea he'd come up with. She'd shout and he always tried to be stern, but his son would always catch his eye conspiratorially.  
><em>

_His youngest was brilliant, introverted and observant, and utterly sweet and compassionate. He took in stray animals and seemed to tame them with an ease that spoke of his gentle soul, and delighted in the joy of others. He was always able to diffuse the arguments that frequently arose between his brother and sister in a way that they almost never realised he was even doing so. Rose said he took after her as a child and he didn't doubt it for a second. _

_The memories of their adventures were tinted with pride and protectiveness. They continued in the Doctor's mind as he watched the children grow and Rose come into her own power. She had never consciously tried tapping the Bad Wolf until the kids were seventeen - though they only physically resembled nine-year-olds - and a rogue Sontaran ship had been chasing them. Their shields wouldn't take another direct hit and they had no hope of rescue. She left no trace of the Sontaran ship behind and had cried for days over what she had done - even if it had been the instinct that any mother would have. She emerged from the experience determined to gain better control._

_And she had. Rose Tyler could do anything, couldn't she? _

_After twenty-five years of navigating the universe with his family on their cobbled together Clomian Starship, he was an old man, his kids were physically the age of young teenagers, his wife still young and beautiful and impossible, and he was dying. He'd taught the triplets to the best of his ability without the resources of the Academy or a properly stocked Gallifreyan library, but he knew he had not done enough for them. They needed to know their true names._

_So he had one last trip planned._

_He found Gallifrey. _

_Weeell, the planet that shared all the same physical location and topography as the planet of his birth. No Time Lords had ever walked upon its surface. _

_Until they landed, that is. _

_His miraculous wife and daughter supported him and his weary bones as his family that made up his whole world trekked through the silver and crimson forests he'd never thought to see again. Tears coursed down his wrinkled face as he stroked the silver bark of the trees._

_They found the untempered schism exactly where it should have been. It was in the centre of a clearing caught in a perpetual state of flux between birth and death. _

_His children approached with caution and gazed in, each taking in the unimaginable everything. _

_Pain shot through his chest and shoulder. He coughed and ignored it. _

_Golden tendrils of energy emerged from the schism like glittering tentacles of time and surrounded them as they joined hands, his daughter between his sons. _

_He moved toward them as his shoulder continued to ache as the energy grew in intensity, swirling and prodding at them leaving trails on their exposed skin and seeking entrance. His legs no longer supported him as he tried to reach out to his children - pull them away from the unknown threat - and he fell to his knees clutching his shoulder. Rose caught him in her arms and prevented him from collapsing completely. He moaned helplessly as they were consumed in a blinding light and his pain became overwhelming until everything went black._

The vision ended and the Doctor came back to reality with soaked cheeks and a heaviness in his hearts.


	7. Faffing About in Alleyways

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who. I just faff about in alleyways with aliens and words. Because reasons.  
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><p>The Alpha picked her way through the lower market. She didn't go there often because the shop in which she'd been arrested sat smack in the middle of everything and at least half the merchants would have nothing to do with her. Today, however, she was a little desperate. She'd never wanted to leave anywhere more desperately in her 127 years, so she resolved to scour the lower market for the bobs their TARDIS required.<p>

Nothing was going right. Not since Himself swanned in and cocked everything up, and now her brothers were getting chummy with him in his stupid bow-tie and braces. Why weren't they listening to her? Well, she knew why, didn't she? They were being sentimental prats that wanted to go on adventures instead of staying focused. She'd half expect that from Torin, but Lios? The thought of it inflamed her further and she shoved her fists deeper into her coat.

Li's timeline had stopped flickering in and out of her sight during their argument over tea and settled into permanent shimmering view. It'd broken her hearts so she did a runner. Not the most mature way to handle knowing her treasured sibling would be leaving her, but how was she supposed to handle that? And her suspicions regarding her own fate did nothing to calm her nerves. It felt like the three were aboard the Star Cruiser of fate and the bloody Doctor hijacked the navigation systems. She hated it.

Who was _he_ to them anyway? No one. Genetic information similar to their own, that's all. He wasn't their father. Their father had been the one that changed nappies, and taught them to fly, and the language of their people, and how to control their telepathy, and how to tell the difference between Clom and Raxacoricofallapatorius. Their father had kept them safe and loved Mum without ever leaving her. Their dad was John Noble-Smith, not the Doctor, and John Noble-Smith had been _everything._

She missed her parents - needed her mum. She smirked thinking about being well over a century old and still needing her mummy, but no one else had a mum like hers, did they? Her mum was, by all rights, a goddess.

Without realising it, she'd wandered into an alley and was facing a dead end. She turned around and saw two figures at the other end blocking her exit as they creeped up on her.

Brilliant.

Didn't mean anything, right? This was a fairly safe planet and she'd just walk past them and -

No dice. She recognised them. They were Binto Basal's, the Garan from whom she'd nicked the Vortex Channeller. Well, then.

"Well, na, if 't ain't tha Alpha. Fancy tha'. Been lookin' fer yo, haven' we, Dib?" the Garan thug with green hair grinned at his counterpart, making him look for all the world like a toothy vegetable.

"Gave us tha slip las' nigh', eh Mo?" his orange-haired counterpart responded stone-faced. She knew he'd be the more challenging of the two.

"True 'nuff. An' made off wi' my masta's propr'ty."

"Yawp, reck'n we ought'a take 'er to 'im straigh' 'way."

"Reck'n so."

"Ah, well, 'fore either of you gets carried away being so terribly clever, what' am I meant to've stolen? I seem to recall goin' to the pub an' dancing with your master, but he was smellin' up the place so bad, I had to scarper or I'd'a been sick all over 'im." She was buying time by talking while she checked her surroundings. Bloody hell, what was wrong with her? She was never this lax in her guard.

"I don' reck'n yo'r tha' thick, lass. Yo c'n come quiet, or Dib 'n me'll make yo quiet, but yo'r comin' jus' tha same."

Her chances of clearing the brick wall behind her before they grabbed her were grim, and she knew their sonic was currently in Torin's pocket, so the steel door to the left and ten paces behind her was out too. She was well and truly cornered. So she did the only thing logical.

"Lead the way, gents."

Dib, the smarter of the two, frowned and considered her for a moment, then nodded to his counterpart, who roughly took hold of her arm and began pulling her back out the alley.

"Oi! Mind the coat! I love this coat! Freddie Mercury gave me this coat!" She pulled her arm away succeeding only in getting both arms seized on either side as a result. She huffed. "I'm comin' willingly, no cause for the rough treatmen', yeah?"

They ignored her protest and continued steering her back into the throng. Wary shopkeeps shot them uneasy glances, some ducking their heads and minding their own and others shooting her looks that clearly stated she had this coming. Well, she avoided this place for a reason, didn't she?

She berated herself again for being distracted and thick as she shuffled through the multitude of escape routes in her head. It would be easiest to disappear if she went for it while they navigated the crowds, but harder to manoeuvre without possibly hurting innocent bystanders. Mo had a weapon digging into her side which she could grab in 0.435 of a second, but that'd never work in a crowd - not without landing her squarely behind bars in another three minutes and eight seconds - and Dib was surely carrying one too and without the sonic to disable it, she'd be in for her second regeneration in less than six months. She didn't fancy that. Wasn't nice the first time, plus they had no way of running from the trouble that would follow a public display of what she was at the moment, and the explosive energy would definitely hurt people. It had all but finished the already beaten up TARDIS last time. If she waited until they were skulking down the next alley she could snatch it and shoot them both in 1.185 seconds - well, less if she didn't set it to stun first, but that wasn't really an option either. She didn't want to kill anyone.

Her mind firmly made up, she bided her time.

"So, you lads come here often?" she bumbled. They ignored her. "See tha' fountain? Funny story 'bout tha' fountain. See, when this planet was first terraformed by you lot - you know you Garans actually came from Andilon I, yeah? Left when it was overrun by weevils - nasty buggers, those, don't blame you for leavin'. Not many do - know tha', I mean, no, 'cos you been here at least six centuries an' cultures tend to forget things like tha' over time when you're not plannin' to move on again. You were actually tryin' to get to a planet in a neighbourin' system called -"

"Shu' it."

"Not a history buff then? Tha's a shame, tha' is. History is an amazin' thing, yeah? No one properly appreciates it anymore. I think tha' started in humans, you know? Back in the early Twentieth Century on the original Earth, Earth Prime - or Sol 3, if you prefer, I'm flexible - when people started carin' more about celebrities an' films than tracing blood lines of their ancestors. Plus everyone pretty much stopped readin' anythin' tha' wasn' a gossip rag - do you lot have those here then? I've been dyin' to catch up on wha' the Face of Boe has been gettin' up to - an' then they could just watch the telly. Anyway, tha' attitude spread among the different races once the humans started spreadin' out across the stars -"

"Shu' yo'r bleedin' gob already!" Mo hissed.

She smiled smugly. They were nearing the alley she had in mind. Fifteen paces. 6.493 seconds. She just needed them a little more irritated and flustered.

"Sky's lovely t'day, don't you reckon? I know of eighteen planets with a sky tha' colour. Imagine, tha'! Eighteen! There's here - lovely Garazone Prime, home to two billion of you Garans an' 'alf as many humans, 'course - an' Banobillius Ampiorilastillion Phara-Basillius which has no humans on it 'cos the air is too thin, an' the males of the indig'nous race called Lunians run around starkers an' paint their entire bodies during the full moons - they 'ave two, you know - with huge piles of sh-"

"I tol' yo-"

His blaster was in her hands and they both hit the ground in a blur of movement. She chucked the weapon in a bin and took off running at break-neck speed, before she heard the shouts ringing out behind her.

She weaved her way through the labyrinth of buildings once she'd left the markets behind, staying as entrenched in shadows as she could, her skin humming from the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

She had no interest in returning to their TARDIS and dealing with, well, the reason she'd scarpered in the first place, but it was the only logical bolt-hole so she navigated down the alleys that would lead back to the pitch where it was hiding amongst the purply trees.

She jumped a wall that separated her from the last alleyway and nearly ran face first into a big blue police call box.

Oh.

She felt a warmth beneath her polo-neck and pulled out the glowing key on the silver chain that had belonged to her mum.

She shifted from foot to foot, before stowing the key back under her jumper and starting to walk away.

Not her TARDIS, not her business, even if she was curious. Well, who wouldn't be, eh? This ship had been the setting for all of her childhood stories, and was practically her gran if you thought about how her mum's life had been so tied to its heart. Still, not hers. No. Didn't matter that she had a key, it was still wrong to go in without an invitation.

The key was suddenly quite hot. She gasped and pulled it out again before looking over her shoulder at the big blue box.

The door swung open.

She waited for someone to come out but the entryway remained resolutely empty.

Then it nudged her.

The Doctor's TARDIS was inviting her in.

She furrowed her brows and faffed about for a few moments.

It nudged her more insistently, sending a wave of love and welcome.

Well, it was an invitation, wasn't it? And the Doctor may pilot the timeship, but she_ was_ her own being, now wasn't she?

She felt a wave of approval and agreement.

She hesitated another moment before closing the distance and striding through the doors, which closed by themselves behind her.


	8. A Conversation and an Invitation

**A/N: Still don't own Doctor Who.**

**I really tried not to make chin jokes. I told myself when I decided to write Eleven, that I just wouldn't. Sometimes, they're just too hard to resist. I do promise not to call him Chinny, though... maybe.**

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><p>The Doctor wasn't accustomed to his past coming back to haunt him - well, not haunt him - that sounded bad - like Dalek-in-a-basement-in-Utah bad and that certainly wasn't what he meant - no, nor was this like running into Sarah Jane, or coming face to face again with the Master - or Davros - or hoards of Daleks and Cybermen - or races of aliens that'd had their planets destroyed in the Time War - wait, maybe his past cropped up more often than he thought - never mind, yes, it did do all the time, didn't it? But this was an entirely different thing. An uncomfortable, confusing, very emotional in a sort-of-good-but-mostly-heartswrenching-way thing. This was seeing the consequences of the second hardest decision he'd ever made. These were Rose Tyler's children. He was leaving it there. This TARDIS was the bit of coral - he was inside the bit of coral he'd left on Dårlig Ulv Stranden. And Rose Tyler was not in this TARDIS - even though he had seen first hand that she didn't live a human life and had become something incredible, she was not there. Blimey, he'd just witnessed at least fifty years of her life.<p>

He'd gotten more answers than he'd bargained for but a whole new set to be answered as well. And knowing where to begin was, once again, a very, very hard thing.

He yanked at his fringe and opened his mouth to say something - anything - then closed it and examined his shoes again, and hooked his thumbs through his braces. Ah, he had it.

"Got any biscuits?" Oh, that was rubbish, and not what he'd meant to say at all. And why couldn't he look up? His shoes were not as interesting as he was pretending they were. Certainly, these young men were much more so, but he couldn't look them in the face. His chin felt like a lead weight.

"Yeah. Come on, Torin. Let's give the man some room to breathe."

"But - ow! Yeah, ok. We'll do tea too. How do you take it?"

"Milk and two sugars is fine," he choked then swallowed hard as he heard them climbing the stairs to the galley. The door closed behind them and he heaved a sigh of relief.

He just needed a bit.

His metacrisis had fathered three children with Rose Tyler. He wondered if they'd let him run biological tests in his own TARDIS. That was good! He could lead with that when they came back. Break the ice with sciencey stuff. Loved sciencey stuff - bet they did too. His metacrisis had likely run every test possible, and the boys could probably tell him everything he wanted to know, but it was the _doing_ he wanted - needed. He needed to do something. He realised he was still sitting on the floor. That was fine, really. No other place to sit, actually, and if he got up he might be tempted to just go back to his own timeship. Yes, he definitely had the urge to run, but he wasn't going to. Probably not, maybe. No. He wasn't.

He wasn't going to run.

That made him feel loads better.

He finally lifted his head and stared at the galley door, a soft smile stealing over his face.

Now he thought about it, those boys did look like him, didn't they? Their sister too, although, she looked very different in the metacrisis's memories. He'd ask about that.

Torin looked like - well facially and all - like his last regeneration, with hair like he'd had just before the war, and, in the memories he'd seen, he had ears like the body just after. Funny to think that the metacrisis had retained all that genetic information in a way that it could be passed down to a child.

His brother reminded him of himself when he had an affinity for wearing celery - but without the celery, of course. His face and body shape may have been more like he was just before the war, but his colouring was well suited for a red-trimmed cricket kit, and his eyes were like his when he still had Torin's daft ears.

Alpha had looked just like Rose once. Now she - well, now that he could place what had bothered him about her earlier - she looked like someone smashed together Rose Tyler with himself as Daft Ears and she got his attitude to match. She made loads more sense when he thought of her that way, actually. All dislike melted away instantly. Almost. Sort of. Not really, but she was broken, and needed fixing. He could understand that. Even forgive her chucking stones and insulting him.

He chuckled to himself. When looming children on Gallifrey, the parents got to choose the traits that they would share with the offspring to be created. Seeing the natural way made him think - Oh, Rassilon! These children were the first naturally born in… Oh, Rose Tyler, you impossible thing. He laughed. Rose Tyler, Defender of Earth, Time Goddess and Saviour of the Time Lord Race.

He was filled with good happy loving feelings. How did she always do that?

He finally got to his feet and walked over to the time rotor that was glowing feebly and rested a hand on it. He was going to help Rose Tyler's children whatever it took. He could do that.

Torin's head poked out the galley door, and he smile at the Doctor before he made a strangled noise and was pulled back again, door slamming shut, followed by scuffling noises, and the reemergence of both brothers.

"Better now?" Torin chanced. The Doctor nodded and met his gaze. He was given a manic grin in return. "Well, then! Tea! There you are. We found this tea growing - well the leaves, not the infusion we're about to drink - on a hillside on Epsilon V - of course, when I say Epsilon V, I mean in the parallel universe, so maybe we should call it Epsilon V.2, or is there not an Epsilon V here in Prime? Anyway, the locals claimed a monster was -"

"Oi! No one wants to hear that story!" his brother huffed turning red.

"Torin, I'd love to hear all your stories, eventually, but I do think it's time we chatted and you filled me in on the how of a few things."

Both young men looked startled at the revelation that the Doctor planned to be around long enough to hear all their stories, then melted into joyous grins.

"Your f-father died that day? The last one you showed me."

"Yeah, not right then. Mum was able to help him hold on until we… came back. To say goodbye. He gave us those memories then. For you. You know, if we ever made it here."

"He wanted you to come here and find me?"

"Weeell, I think he figured you'd find us. He, you know, thought just like you and all, right? And he was right! Look at us all! You're here. You came looking. And we're here, drinking tea. Chatting."

"What happened when you looked into the Untempered Schism? I've never seen anything like that before."

They were silent and tense.

Lios spoke first, "Better to wait on that answer until we're all together again, that ok?" The Doctor nodded.

"Where's your mum?" That was the question that burned.

They didn't answer immediately.

"Is she dead?" Cold knives pierced his hearts.

"Weeell, no. Not really." Utter relief. "She doesn't exactly have a body anymore, but Selene thinks she knows how to fix that."

"Your sister's name is actually Selene then? She called herself 'Selene Woolfe,' but I heard you call her Alpha and assumed she was giving me a _nom de plume_."

"Weeell, no. And yes. That's what Mum and Dad named her - just the first part, Woolfe is the alias we use, or Mum used and we adopted - so technically she's Selene Noble-Smith, and I'm Torin Noble-Smith, and he's, well, you get it. The Alpha started as a nickname when we were just sprogs, and then that's what she chose for herself after we looked into the Schism."

The Doctor shook his head. "Women didn't do that on Gallifrey, you know. That was something traditionally only done by men. Would have been highly improper and frowned upon, actually. Would be like your sister to fly in the face of the customs of her people. Go on, what did you choose then?"

"We all kept our nicknames, but the Alpha's the only one that goes by it when we're with family. I'm the Beta."

"I'm the Omega."

"I knew a man who called himself the Omega once. I like you far better, though. So, your mum. What happened?"

"She tapped too far into the Bad Wolf to get us across the void and it burned her body up. Don't look so horrified! We didn't know it would happen! Selene… Well, she took Mum into herself when we crashed and then stored her essence in this TARDIS." He pointed to the weakly glowing rotor. "That's her you're seeing. Our mum. She's what's keeping this baby alive."

The Doctor couldn't help feeling another stab in his hearts and he reached out and stroked the rotor once more.

"Why come back here? What was worth losing your mum?" He couldn't help the slight note of anger in his voice.

"Lots of reasons. Mum was never going to stay there forever because, well, you weren't there. Don't look smug. And the TARDIS never grew like she should there. Mum was constantly having to feed her from her own life essence, and it always took her a while to recover after. Calm down! She said you'd done it before with your own TARDIS when you were in that universe."

"Yeah, but it cost me years of my own life! What was she _thinking_?"

"Oi! You don't get to have a go at my mum for doing what she felt she had to!"

The Doctor saw rage and defensive loyalty burning in Torin's eyes and knew he'd gone too far.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I wasn't having a go, it's just... upsetting."

"Yeah, alright."

"Go on then."

"Wasn't just for the TARDIS. We needed to be here too. Living there made us sick all the time. Not like human-sick, but weak. Never felt as good in my life as I have since we crashed." He hesitated and nervously smoothed his hair over his ears. "Then there's, you know, the reasons we'll talk about later."

"Am I right in assuming your sister regenerated after saving Rose?"

They both nodded.

He shook his head and frowned. "She's been through quite a lot, hasn't she?"

Lios spoke up, "You really have no idea. So try to lighten up on her, yeah?"

The Doctor chuckled and ran a hand through his hair resting it on the back of his neck as he looked at his shoes, "She reminds me of myself at a very dark time in my life. No one likes looking into that kind of mirror, but I promise you that I'll try harder."

The young man nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Speaking of your sister, she's been gone a long time, hasn't she?"

Torin smoothed his hair down over his ears again. "Nah. She's just brooding. She'll come back when she's ready and tell us what prats we are, then it'll all be fine. She just needs a bit to get it out of her system."

"Can I run some tests on you? I'd love to see your DNA - or is it TNA? How close to pure Time Lord are you?"

"Pretty close, and it's more like TNA with a time-murmur. That's what Dad used to say. Like a hearts-murmur only nothing like a hearts-murmur, forget that. We have a ghost strand that we got from Mum and it's not technically attached but floats about in the triple helix - well, you'll see it eventually."

"Fantastic!" the Doctor grinned. He swallowed and tried to sound as casual and not at all nervous about the next question. "Want to - er - go with me, maybe? You know, in my TARDIS?" Two sets of eyes locked on his face as he frowned and shifted from foot to foot. "I don't mean you'd have to leave this one or anything, quite the contrary, the invitation is for her as well - in fact, I think the old girl would be thrilled to help her along. She was very excited about you lot, even though I didn't... Your girl can be parked right inside. Simple enough. And of course, I mean your sister too. I know you wouldn't go anywhere without her. So, maybe… er… well?"

He never did get his answer, however, because right at that moment the Doctor heard an impossible sound. The wheezing of his TARDIS coming from all around.


	9. Hijacked

**A/N: Nope. Nada. Zilch. Zero. That's what I own. Certainly not Doctor Who nor any other intellectual property retained by the BBC and its affiliates. So don't sue me. I don't profit from this.**

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><p>As she stepped into the console room her breath caught in her throat. It was enormous! Beautiful! Exquisite! Incredible! <em>Fantastic!<em> Oh! She had never seen anything so wonderful in her life. It was so very different from her little TARDIS, with gleaming surfaces and a bluish glow radiating from the enormous time rotor casting a dream-like ambiance over the entire room. She was so sleek! So… Well, there weren't really enough words, were there?

"You're… You're just… You're amazin'. So beautiful. Thank you for invitin' me to see you, er… What do I call you? Do you have a name?"

Waves of love and approval.

The Alpha hadn't stepped more than two feet in and the TARDIS was beckoning her to really come forward. A message in Gallifreyan appeared on the monitor at the console. Hesitantly, she closed the distance. It still felt wrong being here without the Doctor's permission. She read the name the TARDIS had offered.

"I'm _never_ callin' you tha'."

Amusement from the TARDIS. Another name appeared.

"Ok, then. Idris it is. My TARDIS isn't old enough to talk to me, you know. This is a bit weird for me. New. Not bad new, good new." She reached up and lay her hands on the glowing cylinder. "I think you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I hope he's taking good care of you."

More amusement.

The Alpha chuckled. "I know. It's the other way 'round, innit? You take care of him."

Questioning. The TA- Idris wanted to show her something.

"Yeah, 'course! Anythin' and everythin'! Please!"

She closed her eyes as the TARDIS's memories of the last few hundred years sped through her mind in reverse order, everything from having her matrix extracted, to blowing up, to crashing in a little girls' back garden, and ending with a struggle to keep a mad Time Lord from destroying the Earth by recalling…

Oh.

"Tha's what killed him last time? 'S why he doesn't look the same anymore then." She sighed heavily. "You've been through a lot, haven't you, Idris?"

A slight admonishment.

"Yeah, yeah. He has too. I get it." She rolled her eyes, and got a shock for her insolence. "Oi! Watch it!" She stuck her fingers in her mouth and knitted her eyebrows together. "Look, sorry! I didn' mean to upset you, an' I wasn' tryin'a insult him, ok?" Her fingers tingled and the pain vanished. "Cheers! Much better. You're really incredible tha' you can do all this. I can't wait 'til my girl is as flash as you, you incredible thing, you."

Pride and affection.

"So'd you invite me in jus' to say, 'hello,' then?"

The image of the pompous looking man with the dangerous gauntlet from the last memory appeared in her mind.

"Who's tha' then?"

A name appeared on the monitor. Rassilon.

"Tha's Himself then? He's the one I want?" She rubbed at her temples and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Looks like a right prat, doesn't he?"

The TARDIS give her the mental equivalent of a shrug, then a stern warning.

"Is he really tha' dangerous?" She nervously adjusted the neck of her jumper and muffler to sit higher and pulled down at her coat sleeves.

Agreement and a feeling of concern and sadness.

"I'll be alright, Idris. Really. I'm cleverer an' stronger than I look. An' 's wha' I was born for, yeah?"

Questioning.

"Wha'? I dunno wha' you're tryin' to ask."

Insistent questioning.

"Look, can you write it out or show me or somethin'? This is by far the strangest conversation I've ever been a part of, an' you know… tha's sayin' a lot."

The image of the pompous looking Time Lord and the questioning tone again.

"Oh. Yeah, I dunno yet. Was kinda hopin' Mum would be here with us for everythin', but I've still have to sort all tha' out." A thought occurred to her. "D'you… I mean… I know you can do amazin' things… D'you think you could help me sort Mum?"

Wolves howled in her mind and she felt a sense of giddy anticipation from the timeship.

To her utter amazement and horror the ship initiated her own dematerialisation sequence.

"Oi! What're you doin'?! The Doctor's gonna kill me! We can' go anywhere! Are you listening?! Wha'- Oi!"

Her own TARDIS was suddenly sitting in the corner of the console room - still a Garazonian tree - and the door was opening. To her horror a furious Doctor was running out and looking right at her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted. "What is wrong with you?! Do you make a habit of hijacking other people's ships?"

"Wha? No! I was -"

"How the hell did you even get in? What is _wrong_ with you?"

Her brothers were peering out her TARDIS doors with shocked and confused expressions. Lios also looked a bit disappointed in her. That flared the anger within her. She hadn't done anything!

She strode right up to the Doctor and stood inches from him as he glowered at her. "_I_ didn't hijack anythin'! _She_ did this all on her own an' if you don' believe me, try askin' her your own-self! I didn' ever wanna look at your daft face again, why would I go pickin' you up while you were in _my_ TARDIS? _She's_ the mad one tha' did it!" She pointed at the console then put her finger in the Doctors face, eyes blazing with fury. "You can jus' put us righ' back _righ' now! Go on!_ We don' need you, _or_ your mad ship! We were better off before you swanned in an' cocked up our - everythin'!"

"Don't you have a go at my ship! Without her you wouldn't even be alive, you ungrateful little -"

Both of them received painful shocks from the railing.

"Oi!"

"Bugger! Ow!"

Waves of stern chastisement rolled over both of them.

"Mad! Absolutely barmy! Tha's the _second_ time! Does she do tha' a lot? Cor!"

The dematerialisation sequence began again and the Doctor hurriedly brushed past the Alpha and ran to the console.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?" He yelled at the ship. A few moments later they landed and he checked their coordinates. "_Cardiff?_ Why - Oh, forget it. I'll never properly understand you," he admonished his timeship. He turned to the three young Time Lords that were now standing together. Lios was examining his sister's fingers and Torin was gaping at the room at large. That made the Doctor's grin reappear and his anger took a backseat to the pride and joy at hand. "Welcome to the TARDIS, well, this TARDIS, my TARDIS. What do you think?"

Torin met his eyes. "Brilliant. You know she is."

"Well, she's taken us to Cardiff. I'm assuming for your little one's benefit. There's a rift here where she can recharge, so to speak, help her heal. Alpha, I'm sorry I shouted at you. My Old Girl has obviously been planning things without telling me anything."

"You called me Alpha."

"Well, that's your name, isn't it? Would you prefer Selene?" She shook her head, her expression indefinable. "Come along Noble-Smiths - blimey, that's rubbish. No offence meant to your dad, but why didn't he just use Tyler? Brilliant name, Tyler. Noble-Smith doesn't roll off the tongue properly at all. I'm not calling you lot that again. Tylers then. Much better. Come along Tylers! Shall I show you to your rooms then?"

"Oi! Who says we're stayin' here?" Her brothers looked at her in shock and disappointment.

The Doctor's smile died on his lips and he frowned anxiously. "I just thought…"

A few heavy moments passed where no one moved, brothers still staring at their sister in disbelief, and the Doctor with his eyes fixed on his shoe laces.

"Look, I'm not sayin' we don't appreciate the offer," she began and Torin turned away from her in frustration, "an' I'm _not_ sayin' we won't go with you - you two prats jus' settle down - it's jus' we have a home, yeah?" she indicated the young ship still pretending she was a purple tree, "An' givin' us rooms here… I dunno… 'S jus' weird. 'S like this is your house an' you're askin' us to move in to your house when we barely know you. 'S a little... fast 's all... don't you think? That somethin' you do a lot? Jus' move people in?"

"Actually, I've never thought about it that way," his brows were still pinched together, but he had relaxed considerably. They weren't leaving him. That was good. Very good and great even. "Of course, you can stay wherever you're most comfortable, even if it isn't technically on my ship. You're welcome here is what I'm trying to say. I want you here. I would really, very much like you to be here. Please."

She nodded, face still serious, but not cross or defensive.

"Well, I want to stay on this TARDIS," Torin proclaimed. His sister glared. "Alpha, I know what you're gonna say, and it's crap. Our girl is better off not having to maintain the support systems for the three of us all the time. You know it's true. Stop being so contrary and stubborn! Look where we are! It's brilliant! And you're not stopping me! You do what you want. Doctor, please give me a room? Blimey! Never had a room of my own!"

Selene couldn't hide the heartsbreak in her eyes. She looked at her youngest brother and pleaded silently. He couldn't leave her too. Not him.

He met her gaze with patience and understanding then pulled her into an embrace.

"This'll be good for us, Selene," he whispered. She tried to shove him away roughly but he held on. "Doctor, we've never been apart."

"Well, I'm sure the Old Girl can make it so your rooms connect if it helps, or you can all have one room. It's up to you."

Lios nodded. He glanced at his brother. "Connected is good."

After settling in (Alpha only taking a cursory look at their new quarters and disappearing into her own timeship while the men explored) they met once again in the console room.

"So, Cardiff," started Torin. "A rift and lots of Welshmen. Anything else interesting? How long will we be here do you reckon?"

The Doctor frowned. "A day or so should be all we need. And no, not really, it's Wales, isn't it? There is a branch of Torchwood," the three stiffened slightly, "and an anomalous American man who is probably pacing outside those doors, but that's about it."

"D'you mean Jack Harkness? Really?" Torin beamed.

"If he's still here on Earth, yes. Haven't seen him in, oh, couple hundred years, but this should still be around the time he spent in Wales. I take it you've heard of him."

"Well, yeah! He was one of Mum's best mates! Grew up on stories about the three of you, didn't we?"

"You won't like the way he feels."

"Been told. Still amazing when things that felt like fairy stories show up in real life, though."

"Well, then. What are we waiting for, Tylers? Geronimo!"

"Geronimo?" It was the first the Alpha had spoken in hours, a small amused smile playing on her lips. "'S not half bad. I like it."

The Doctor opened the double doors with a grin and strode out into the night air only to be tackled to the concrete in a hug by an immortal in a vintage military greatcoat.

"Doc!" Jack cried "Oh! Hello, handsome. Captain Jack Harkness. Thought you were someone else. You travelling with the Doc?" he asked in his most charming voice and didn't move from his position atop the Doctor.

"Get off, Jack! I'm the Doctor! New face. Same man."

"Blowing through those regenerations pretty fast, Doc. Last time I saw you you had a new face too. But this one is so young! You have to be moisturising." He pinched the Doctor's cheeks and moved back onto his knees, allowing the Doctor to sit up.

"Wait, when did you last see me?"

"The year that never was."

"Oh dear. Right. Well, this is very not good. You'll see that me again, Jack, only don't say anything about this me, that's very extremely important."

"Yeah, Doc. I get it. Time Agent, remember? I know how to be... discrete." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, then looked up to see the three amused faces watching the exchange with varying degrees of amusement and horror. "Hey there. Captain Jack Harkness. New companions?"

"Stop it." The Doctor ordered and pushed him over as he got to his feet.

The Captain rolled onto his side gracefully and rested his head on one hand as he looked at the triplets. "And you are?"

"I said stop it, Jack."

"What? I'm just being friendly."

"You're not getting 'friendly' with this lot. _ Ever._ Understand?"

"I think I liked your last face better. You were more fun."

"Oi!"

"So, you three have names? He's obviously not making introductions." He stood to shake their hands.

The Alpha stepped forward and took the proffered hand in a firm shake. "I'm the Alpha. Tha's the Beta, an' the Omega. Pleasure to meet you, Captain."

"The pleasure is all mine. Your names are Alpha, Beta, and Omega?" he asked as he shook hands with each of her brothers. "Where are you from? Obviously not Earth. Epsilon V? Messaline? Sto?"

The brothers looked at their sister and she grudgingly looked to the Doctor for instruction.

"He's safe, Alpha. But why don't we go for nosh, eh? I could murder some fish-fingers and custard."


	10. You Call Her Sexy

**A/N: I don't own Doctor Who. Nope.**

**I struggled with this chapter but emerged the victor and now I can get into the meat and forward the momentum. Hallelujah.**

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><p>"Stop pouting, Doc. I doubt you'd ever find fish sticks in a restaurant anywhere except maybe a Denny's in the States. And I can't say I'm sorry for it. I really didn't want to see you eat that."<p>

"Shut up, it's nice," he said with a mouth full of the banana parfait he'd settled for.

"So, kids, what's the story? What Earth destroying threat are we facing, or was this a social call?"

The Doctor winced. Jack would see his share of threats to the planet soon enough. "I didn't land us here. The TARDIS did."

"Still didn't get a body that can drive, huh?" Everyone but the Doctor laughed.

"Oi! We're just refuelling. I picked these three up not long ago on Garazone Prime."

"Oh! Beautiful planet! Shades of orange and purple everywhere you look. Back when I was with the Time Agency, I had a thing with a lovely female Garan once that used to like -"

The Doctor choked on his parfait and began coughing loudly drowning out the rest of Jack's words.

"Haven't ever been able to look at carrots the same way since," he finished grinning. "Still, don't human Garazonians typically name their children more, and no offence intended, traditionally?"

"Weeell, we aren't human, are we?" Torin said through the mouthful of his chips. "We're Time Lords."

"You're _what_?" Jack sputtered.

"Time Lords," Torin grinned still chewing, earning him an elbow in the ribs from his brother.

"I thought you were the last, Doc! You know, ever since Lucy shot the Master!"

"Was the last. Not anymore. Bung us a chip, Beta." Torin shifted his plate into the Doctor's reach. The Doctor grabbed a handful and started dipping them in his bananas. "This lot crashed there. I felt them and picked them up."

"How come you never noticed them before?"

"We were trapped in a parallel dimension," Alpha replied firmly, leaving it at that and hoping Torin could control his gob. She'd picked up that this was still early enough in Jack's history with the Doctor that too much information could seriously damage future events. Events that meant the difference between existing and not existing. She was a bit frustrated they were even mucking about like this, actually.

"How'd you get back?" Jack looked hopeful. "Doc, do you think however they did it, we might be able to try and go get Rosie?"

The Doctor shook his head sadly. "Spoilers, Jack. And it was an accident. Sometimes the walls of the universe have cracks and things just pop through," he replied evasively.

Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Well, that's a downer. Would've been great to see her again. So you all are just going to stay to fuel and then be on your way? No chance I can tempt you to stay a while?"

"Not likely. We need to repair their TARDIS and we won't find what we need here on Earth."

"Any chance you'd want to take an old man along for a couple trips?"

"Jack…"

"It's alright, Doc. I know. The TARDIS doesn't like me. I'm wrong. I remember."

"I thought you were set on working with your team here. That's what you said after I offered last time."

"I did. And have. I'm just a little restless at the moment, I guess." He ran his fingers through his hair. "And you've got a time machine. You could have me back tomorrow and no one would be the wiser!"

Selene and Lios had stopped eating and were looking at each other intently. Her eyes flickered downward for a moment and he nodded and smiled then they both turned to Torin, who stopped mid bite.

"What was that?" Jack asked thoroughly confused.

"Time Lords are telepathic, Jack," the older Time Lord answered looking thoroughly worn out and ancient.

Jack knew there was so much more to this story than he was getting, but left it alone. No one would tell him any more than they would tell him. He wondered if all the Doc's people were like that, or if this group was just especially secretive.

"Oi! It's rude to have private conversations in the middle of company!"

"Yeah, sorry," the Alpha replied. "Still not used to the company thing. So, Doctor… er… we, er… well, maybe the Captain could come? See, er… There's this thing we're supposed to do an' er… well, he could help."

"A thing I'm not aware of," the Doctor spoke casually but she knew they'd row again if she wasn't careful.

"Yet, yeah. We kinda landed in Cardiff before we got a proper chance to talk, you an' me, yeah?"

Lios looked more pleased with his sister than the Doctor had seen him. He also picked up on… what was it… relief?

It was a bad, terrible, very not good idea. Jack hadn't been through the trauma of the The Crucible yet, hadn't experienced Rose crossing the void with the dimension cannon nor did he know about the metacrisis that would go on to father the very beings asking this very bad, not good thing of him. He should refuse. Definitely.

He searched her face. Her inky brows were drawn and she didn't smile, but she met his eyes with earnestness and integrity shining in them. And, blast it all, they were Rose Tyler's eyes, weren't they? Pleading with him in the way that _she_ had once when she wanted to go back and see her father just once. Not that _that_ had turned out well, but how was he ever going to say no?

"Well, Jack, I think your room was deleted when I had a run in with a nasty sentient asteroid, but I'm sure we can find you one that will do." He sighed. If things went pear-shaped, he'd have to lock Jack's memories away, which he supposed wasn't the end of the world.

Jack jumped out of his seat and kissed him right on the lips. The Doctor flailed and regretted his choice instantly.

"Right. Cheers. Don't do that again. Ever." He wiped his mouth on his coat sleeve and scowled.

When they arrived back at the TARDIS, the young men went exploring and Jack went to the hub to pack a bag, and the older Time Lord took the opportunity to confront the Alpha.

"Talk then," he demanded.

Selene froze in the doorway of her young ship. Clearly she'd been trying to escape doing that very thing. She shifted from foot to foot for a moment then tugged at her coat sleeves and fussed with her red muffler.

"If you don't start spilling, I'll ground us here in Cardiff."

She shot him a scowl then returned her gaze to the floor. "Can't it wait?"

"No."

"Look, it's not tha' I'm tryin' to do anythin' dodgy. I jus' don't know where to start."

"The beginning is often the best place."

"Alright, yeah. Mum - er… Well, Mum's… The Captain might be able to help us bring Mum… an' we need Mum." She looked at him a bit defiantly, as if daring him to challenge her assertion. He didn't, only raised his brows expectantly.

"That's all?"

"He's funny?"

"Selene, don't play games with me. I don't respond well to being used."

"Oi! When did I say you could call me Selene, eh? An' I'm not the one tha' insisted we stay, was I? I never asked a damned thing from you, _Doctor_! Tha' was all you! I never asked to be here! Your ship opened her doors an' lured me in like a pedo with a sweet an' kidnapped me - OW! _Mental_ piece of space junk! _Stop shockin' me!_" She kicked at the railing.

"That was out of order! Show her some respect and she won't!"

"Oh, you're one to talk! How often do you swear at her or hit her with a mallet then, eh?"

"She's _my_ ship!"

"An' you blew her up!"

"Only the one time!"

"You let a madman steal her and turn her into a living paradox!"

"Oi! How much did she tell you?!"

"You got her soul sucked out chasing phantom Time Lords!"

"I got her back! _And_ I got bitten for it!"

"You flew her like a _cruiser_ down a motorway! In traffic!"

"To save a woman's life! It didn't hurt her!"

She paused a moment and caught her breath.

"You drive with the parkin' brakes on."

"And it makes a gorgeous noise."

"You named her _Sexy_."

"Isn't she, though?"

"Yeah, but_ Sexy_? At least she's lettin' me call her Idris."

"Idris?"

"Yeah, tha's wha' she said."

"Idris was the name of the woman whose body she was forced into."

"Oh."

"Are we ever going to be able to talk without fighting?"

"Dunno. You make me really angry."

"Likewise, but you do need to be honest with me, Alpha. I want to help and I can't if I don't know what's going on inside that impossible head of yours."

"Impossible doesn't exist in my family. We eat it for elevenses," she whispered sadly looking at her feet.

"What is that? Your brothers said something like it earlier."

A bitter smile ghosted across her face. "'S wha' Mum an' Dad always said to each other. Became sort of the family motto, I guess."

"You know that I'm not trying to replace your dad, right?"

Her face snapped up to his, eyes wide and brows knitted.

"Easy! I don't want another row! I'm honestly just trying to help you." He sat with a grunt on the edge of the dais, arms over the rails, legs dangling over the side and patted the floor next to him. She hesitated a moment before joining him. "Terribly depressing subject, but did your father ever tell you what it was like to be alone in the universe? Did he tell you about the emptiness?" He heaved a sigh. "You have never had to feel that. You've always had your brothers. From your earliest conscious moments, you have had each other and I hope with every fibre of my being that that never changes. It is one of the worst things I've ever experienced, and I've experienced a lot of not nice things. You still haven't made a connection with me. You're still blocking, but your brothers aren't."

She scowled.

"Don't get upset! I'm not listening in on them! Just listen! Having even one other Time Lord in here," he touched the side of his head with his forefinger, "has soothed me in a way that I can never describe to you. I'm just glad you exist, and if there is any way for me to help you continue existing I want to do it. Completely selfish, actually. I'm keeping you around to soothe my tired old self." He nudged her with his shoulder. "You're not very good for that, though. Absolute nightmare, you are."

She laughed genuinely. "Tha's because you're a rude old codger with a daft face." She nudged him back. "You're right, though. I have been a bit of a cow. I'm jus'… angry… 'bout a lot. An' - oh, if you ever breathe a word of this to my brothers I will slap you into the next you - I'm scared, alright? Those two jammy gits always look to me to know wha' to do, an' where to go, an' how to fix all the things that've gone wrong, an' for once I properly don't know. 'S a million possibilities clamourin' for my attention every second of my life, an' _I_ have to be the one tha' chooses which one is right. 'S ruddy terrifying."

"Anyone ever tell you you sound like a madman I once knew?"

"Shut up..."

"So, how can I help you, Alpha Tyler?"

"Don't use tha' one again. Tha' was rubbish."

"Yeah, it was."

"Gotta get my ship in order. We can start there, yeah? You know where to go better than we do. Only, maybe you shouldn't try to help with the actual fixing."

"Oi!"

She stood and walked to her TARDIS but turned before entering. "Doctor? Thanks." She turned red to her hairline then disappeared.

It was good, a very nice feeling indeed to see a bit of her that wasn't hardened and bitter and it wasn't until much later that he realised she hadn't actually answered any of his questions.

Rassilon! She was good.


	11. Symbols and Secrets

**A/N: I don't own Doctor Who.  
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**Adventure time! Woot!**

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><p>The three male Time Lords were hefting their purchases back to the TARDIS after a rather fun, yes, very nice day of scavenging. It had been a long time since he'd had - if he'd <em>ever<em> had competent company on these expeditions, and it was amazing! He didn't quite know what to make of it.

Selene hadn't made an appearance in nearly three days. She'd been hiding in her own ship ever since the last conversation - or well, row - she and the Doctor had had. He was getting fed up with her avoidance but had no way to get to her. The young TARDIS remained resolutely locked and he didn't have a key, did he? The young men blushed in embarrassment but adamantly refused to go against their sister's wishes and let him in until she was ready. They had, however, let Jack come and go as he pleased and he was currently holed up in there with her, doing Rassilon knew what. He hoped, fervently prayed, she wasn't doing or saying anything stupid that would damage timelines.

When he cornered Jack, the American had grown quite serious and stated that he needed to back off. "It's not the right time, Doc. You of all people should understand these things," he'd told him.

"Frankly, Jack, I'm surprised at where your loyalties lie," the Doctor had spat, earning him a wounded look and guilt.

Jack had gone to her then and had stayed since. The Doctor didn't know whether to just enjoy the relief of not having the Captain's wrongness bothering him, or berate himself for hurting his friend. He didn't have many of them left after all.

Still, he'd enjoyed the day. The company was brilliant - quite literally - and delighted in their task, asking their questions and getting some answers - no, that was The Little Mermaid. But they did - ask that is. And get answers, so it worked. He was glad he hadn't said that aloud.

They still needed a Furidurb Graviometer, like the one he had fought with the Alpha over, and a few more rare bobs but with this haul, they were near sorted. It would then only be a matter of time before their ship came fully back online.

"Tea?" Lios asked as they reentered the Doctor's TARDIS. The young man still wasn't chatty, but he was much warmer than the Doctor had given him credit for originally.

Torin stayed with him in the console room while Lios left for the galley.

"Think… er… maybe we could… go on a trip that wasn't…you know, strictly business? Just for laughs? Not that today wasn't enjoyable! It was, I just… I'm a bit sick of markets to be honest. Been looking at them for the last six months and one day and I want to look at something else, even if it's a planet made entirely of Marmite. I feel like I'm going a bit batty with all the seriousness and tension all the time."

"Torin Tyler! Not only do you have a fantastic name that rolls right off the tongue, but you are brilliant! Do you have a destination in mind, or shall I set the randomiser?"

"Randomiser. Definitely." His grin was practically loony.

"Want to set it yourself?"

"You're having a laugh."

"Nah, go on. It's not everyday I offer to let anyone else pilot my Sexy."

Torin cackled like a loon, flew to the console and threw a few levers while running around like a madman and the TARDIS was off, but not before hurling them both to the ground resulting in bruises and gales of laughter. They landed moments later and the young man shot up and was at the doors in half a second.

"Oi! Forgetting someone?" The Doctor laughed. "Off you tot. There are three others here that might enjoy a bit of something different too. Go and round them up while I check on where and when we are."

He hesitated and smoothed his hair on the sides. "Weeell, actually, I was hoping we could just… maybe… leave Alpha out of it. I'm a terrible brother, I know, but she'll only call me a prat and tell me to stop mucking about. And I might get something chucked at me. She never misses either. And she won't leave anyway."

"And your brother?"

"Oh, forget it. He'll go and tell her for sure. He's always a git like that."

"I'm always a git like what?" Lios asked from the corridor holding three mugs of tea and frowning at the conspirators.

"Did I say git? I meant - no, I meant git. You're a git."

"What are you on about?"

"You tattle everything to Alpha. You're. A. Gi-t."

His brother's brows contracted. "What've you done then?"

"We've landed somewhere, well, not strictly on the itinerary. For fun," the Doctor interceded. "It's good to have fun. You lot should do more often. Far too serious. And I've just remembered, this is a time machine, so we can have a bit and still do whatever it is that your sister is keeping from me without losing a second, technically speaking. Right. Come along then, Tylers. Mystery place outside! Open the doors Torin!"

Before Lios could interject another word, Torin and the Doctor were outside and he was left holding the tea and gaping. He hesitated, thinking he should at least let the Alpha know they were going out, but decided he was better off keeping those two in line as well as he could. Who knew what they'd get up to, she'd only shout about wasting time, and they already had the jump on him. He set the cups of tea quickly on the console and hurried after the others.

Inside the baby timeship - which was still pretending to be a tree as she didn't have the power to re-disguise herself yet - a young woman was going over the plan she had solidified with the help of an immortal that had proven himself to be every bit the man her mum had claimed. It was a blessed relief too, having someone older and far wiser to confide in.

"Selene, sweetheart. You're gonna give yourself a nosebleed. If I've learned anything in my years, it's that plans can only take you so far. Too many unexpected variables inevitably come up, and you always end up flying by the seat of your pants in the end. Just look at the Doc. It's practically his life's story."

"Yeah, well tha's the point, innit? Don't want it to be like tha'. There's too much at stake."

He sighed. He wasn't going to get through to her on this. She just hadn't lived and seen enough to understand. Yet. And he was going to make damn sure Rosie's daughter could do just that. Live. She was... special, or different... or something. He couldn't put a finger on what is was about her, but every time she laughed or smiled the room got a little brighter. It was a bit like being with Rose and the Doc all those years before.

"Let me see the markings again."

She shrugged off her coat. She was wearing only a vest top underneath rather than her accustomed jumper, and the swirling, golden symbols were clearly visible trailing from her wrists to her neck. She'd let him look at all of them but only grudgingly as they also covered her torso and legs and she had spent most of her life hiding them. He couldn't read them but had made a detailed map of them on paper so they could be properly examined and re-translated. She had done the same with her brothers and Mum many times, but it never hurt to have another opinion when it came to cryptic prophesies.

"This…" Jack shook his head. "You're sure you don't want to at least let the Doctor see the ones on your arms? Might be nice if you didn't have to skulk around so much."

"Jack… You know well as I do tha' tha'd be stupid. It's his timeline I'll be muckin' about in. How do you think he'd like knowin' tha's wha' I was plannin'? Reckon he'd still be helpin', or tha' he'd jus' chuck me right out? He can chuck me out after my girl is fixed. Back to the Timelock. You're sure you can breach it?"

"Yes, Selene. I might die once or twice, but I'll be able to get you your pinhole."

She winced. "Lemme see your vortex manipulator again."

"It's _fine_, doll. You've amped and re-calibrated it six times now. Me dying a couple more times isn't going to kill me." He looked at her hopefully, but she ignored the joke.

"An' you remember wha' I showed you? How to forget after? Wanna practice again? You're really not a bad telepath, you know? Probably be pretty strong in the future if you keep practicin'."

"_Selene,_ you need to lighten up. You know what we need? A night out. You need to blow off steam. I've never met anyone so serious in my life, and that, my dear, _is_ saying something. I'm sorry, but you've got a major stick up your ass. You know you've got heavy stuff ahead and God knows you've got heavy stuff behind. You have to live now and enjoy the moments you can."

"I'm not askin' Himself for anythin'."

He gave her an exasperated look.

"Jack, I know I haven't been the fairest dealin' with him, I do, but I dunno. For me, the Doctor was my dad, an' then my dad was - is - dead. An' then my mum was sad for years - so many years an' he should've known, Jack! He should've_ known_ my mum wasn't the same anymore, but my dad said he never even checked! He got distracted by regenerating. Then by an invasion. Then by my mum. Completely thick. Then there's me, an' how much is on me, 'cos _he never checked._ He's like this mythical figure tha' my life is meant to revolve 'round an' it drives me mental when I look at him. I get irrationally angry. I mean, I might die makin' all this work an' tha' prat will still be faffing about, probably with _my_ brothers in tow, long after I'm gone. How is any of it fair?"

"Tell me the name you chose."

"Jack…"

"No. Tell me the name you chose."

"The Alpha."

"Why?"

"Are we really doin' this?"

"Tell me why, Selene."

"'Cos it's all up to me, innit?"

"No. Tell me why you didn't sit back like a good little Time Lady and call yourself Time Lady Selene."

"'Cos I didn't want to."

"_Exactly._ You _always_ have a choice. You _chose_ to be a leader and embrace the possibility of changing the universe and saving billions. _You_ chose the harder path, the Doctor didn't choose it for you. He's got no idea you're going through any of this. But what he thinks, and does, and believes has nothing to do with the choice you made. You could leave all this behind right now, all this responsibility, all this worry and uncertainty, but you don't because you'd rather make your stand. You're so much like your mother that it makes me want to cry, and she would be so, so proud of you."

The girl looked close to tears but swallowed them back. "Hypervodka, then?"

"That's the best thing you've said in days. And I'll do you a favour, I'll ask the Doc."

"Cheers, Jack," she beamed.

"You cover up and I'll go talk to the big man."

"Done."

He strode out into the larger console room to find it empty. Three mugs of cold tea were sitting on the control panel.

"Doc?" he called. No answer.

He checked the galley and a few other common rooms before returning to find the Alpha in full armour and looking at him expectantly.

"Have we landed then? Or have we not left yet?"

"You know, I really have no clue. I can't find anyone. We're… alone." He waggled his brows at her.

She punched him playfully in the gut. "We're alone all the time, Dum-dum. An' you could never handle a woman like me. Not in a million years."

"Wouldn't stop me trying, I probably have that long."

"Well, will never know, will we?"

"I offered to die for you a few times and this is the thanks I get."

"Shut up, you daft-faced git. I completely love you."

"So where do you think they disappeared to?"

"Let's check, shall we?" She strode to the console monitor and typed in her query. She felt an impatient wave from the TARDIS and control was taken away from her. Gallifreyan symbols began scrolling along the screen as fast as she could read them. "Oh, bloody hell. Prats. Bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger. They never… Of course they did. Jack, you up for bit of a rescue mission?"

"Always."

"Good. Those idiots landed us on Olympia."

"That's bad?" He cocked his head. He was actually rather exited by the prospect of visiting the planet of other immortals that were rumoured to party like none others in the universe. He'd gotten drunk once on a smuggled bottle of Ambrosia, and the experience had been very unforgettable.

"It is if you're a Time Lord," She grimaced.


	12. Something of the Wolf About You

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who nor profit from the writing of this fan fiction. No-pe.  
><strong>

**So, I'm a major mythology buff. I eat it up and couldn't resist a planet like Olympia. Anyone familiar with the story of Clytie and the Sunflower? I thought it would be fun to use her as a character, but maybe not give her such a tragic outcome... although, I'm not finished with her yet so... **

* * *

><p>"Blimey! This place is… Well, it's bloody gorgeous, that's what it is." For once it was the younger brother that was effusing while the elder stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed.<p>

Pantheons of marble and gold shone brilliantly in the sunrise on this unknown planet as the early morning sun crested a snow capped mountain that kept its solitary vigil over the marvels below. The sky was pale gold at that hour and whisperings of silvery clouds gently dotted the horizon. Gardens of brightly coloured flowers, most of which the brothers had never seen before, flourished around the marble-paved canals of shimmering water that wended their way through the city. The water itself picked up the gold of the sky and made it seem as if rivers of gold flowed through them. Ivy climbed nearly every wall in sight. Olive and fruit trees were scattered everywhere and an enormous white oak stood in the centre of the large courtyard before them, covered in thousands and thousands of just-stirring butterflies.

The city was quiet but it seemed to pulse with life and energy.

Torin finally found his voice. "What is this place? Where are we?"

Inexplicably, the Doctor frowned. "Somewhere we shouldn't be, I think. Still, should be fine if we keep our heads down. Blend, Tylers, blend," he chided, wafting an arm at them as he did.

"Shouldn't we be dressed differently?" Lios cautioned.

"Nah, just try not to get arrested."

The younger man gaped at him.

"Really, it's fine! Stop fretting! We're on Olympia, I think. Fairly positive, yes. Only… er… They don't really care for…" he moved in closer and stage whispered, "Time Lords." Then tapped his nose and leaned back away. "So, we'll be keeping that under our hats, even if we aren't wearing any. Just keep your mental shields up and try not to drink anything anyone offers you. It'll be fine. I think. Nearly positive. Besides! It's gorgeous! And just wait 'til you see the locals! _Yowzah!_ Oh, look! A fig tree! Love a fig."

"Oi! I have a feeling we shouldn't be here. I'm going back to let the Alpha know in case she has to get us out of it, at least."

"Lios… Just shut up and enjoy it for once!" Torin grabbed hold of his brother and dragged him after the Doctor.

They caught up and fell into step with the older man.

He was scowling at a gnarled tree with broad green leaves. "Figs are rubbish. So! Olympia! Planet of the Almighty Immortal Gods! Well, not really gods, are they? Very, very, very long-lived natives though, and well known throughout the universe. Earth was visited once early in human history by a few Olympians who made an emergency landing on a mountain in Greece. Well, I'm sure you clever boys can deduce what happened next. One of the golden ages of humanity! Of course, none of their myths actually happened, but the Olympians left a fingerprint on humanity that never quite went away, did it?"

"Why don't they like Ti-" Lios began.

"Geejuhbrrnuh-uh! _Shhhh_!" He tapped his nose again. "Well, rivalry! Old rivalry! Nothing to fret about!"

"Come on, Li, stop being a prat," Torin rolled his eyes. "Look where we are! No ship parts in sight! And look! People! Cor… Those're… look at_ her_…" his eyes were the size of saucers as he took in the woman who had emerged from a marble and gold pantheon and was filling an amphora in the canal to their left. She was draped in shimmering, diaphanous cloth of sky blue and silver and her long golden hair was intricately plaited around her head. Her skin was golden and her lips a deep crimson. She hummed a lilting melody as she went about her business, and Torin found himself drifting in her direction without thought.

His brother pulled him roughly away before he made a fool of himself.

He made a choked disappointed sound in the back of his throat as the woman stood and vanished back between the carved white columns.

"Ah, probably should have mentioned, not a big deal really, but that was a Muse. They're the ones with the silver sashes. Best to avoid looking at them directly or listening to them sing. They - er - inspire others to - er - act on impulse. Lower inhibitions and whatnot. Supposed to allow one to be creative, you know, letting go of the things that hold one back! Magnificent, eh?"

"Guh…" Torin agreed.

"Right, should be able to get some breakfast soon. The locals are all waking, now. Eat up, but don't wander off, and don't drink anything but the water. I'm going to find out which city we're in." The Doctor left them standing in the centre of the courtyard that was beginning to buzz with activity.

The butterflies had left the tree, filling the air and gently fluttering amongst the many gardens. One alighted on Li's nose and he giggled with child-like wonder. Its wings were silver, and rimmed and dotted in gold. He held up his hand and several more touched down upon it. He stayed as still as he could, allowing the beautiful insects to roam over his outstretched limbs. This was brilliant! He wished his sister could see it. His mum would have loved it here too! She would have laughed with utter delight at the sight of her son covered in alien butterflies, and danced around with joy at the beauty surrounding.

He heard a soft tinkling giggle behind him, and was startled out of his reverie, sending up a cloud of silver fluttering as the insects took off into the air. He looked first for his brother and noticed he was alone. Fantastic. That was what he got for allowing himself to be distracted. Bloody git, wandering off and leaving him standing there like a -

Oh.

He'd turned and spotted a young woman with long strawberry hair that cascaded behind her in soft waves, and intense green eyes watching him with a joyful grin on her cherry-blossom coloured lips. She was draped in soft white and gold cloth that was clinging to her tall, lithe figure in a way that made his stomach clench tightly. He swallowed audibly.

She was carrying a basket of fruit that he'd never seen before. All the shape of large aubergine but golden in colour. She tilted her head and smiled at him again. "You, sir, are a butterfly charmer. I have never seen them do that before."

"Dahguh-er-um-oh?"

She giggled. "Where are you from? Your dress is strange and I have never seen you before."

"Er - ah - yeah," he finally found his voice. "Not from around here. Far away from here. Just visiting here. I like it here. It's beautiful here." Blimey, he sounded like a div.

She giggled again. He wished she wouldn't. It made his brain turn to jam and his gut feel like he'd swallowed a pack of the fluttering insects.

"I am Nymph Clytie. What is your name?"

"L-L-Lios." He extended a hand awkwardly.

She tilted her head again looking at his outstretched appendage and cocked a blonde eyebrow. "As in Helios Shining?"

"Short for it, yeah. Only not really." He jerked his hand back and stuffed it in the pocket of his huge brown coat. They must not shake hands here. "Just Lios, actually. Or Li. You can call me Li if you like. My mum insisted that I'd never stop being teased if it was fully Helios. No one to tease me about it mostly, though. Didn't grow up with a lot of other children. Just me and my sister and brother, mostly, and they'd never have known the difference, now I think about it. Would've been completely normal. Normal is good, yeah? Very normal to be named H-Helios," _danaritaxicor,_ he added in his head. Couldn't add that bit here and she probably wouldn't like him anymore if he did. "Or, well, _you_ could call me Helios. I really wouldn't mind at all. Like it even, if you do -" Blimey, when did he lose control over his gob? He sounded like Torin! "Er - ah - um - what're those?" He pointed to her basket and seized the opportunity to try to engage her in speaking instead of continuing to run his mouth like a clod.

She gave him another confused look. "Surely you recognise Ambrosia Fruit when you see them?"

"Right! Yeah. Ambrosia Fruit. 'Course! Er - " he shook his head. What had he been doing? "Want to eat - er - food? Er - with me? Get something to eat, I mean. With me. You and I could eat - er - something. Together. If you wanted to." He wanted to kick himself.

She smiled and his insides melted again. "I would be delighted, Helios Shining, charmer of butterflies."

He grinned like an idiot and extended an arm, which she looked at in surprise for a moment, but took with no hesitation. He swept the basket out of her hands and carried it for her, and led her from the courtyard with no idea where he was going.

* * *

><p>The Doctor meanwhile was picking his way through the market place, picking up rare fruits here and there to bring back to the TARDIS. They were in the Outer City of Zeus Lycaeus and he was glad of it. If they'd ended up anywhere else, he might have ushered the boys straight back to the TARDIS, but Lord Lycaon was an old friend. Sort of. Well, he'd visited Arcadia a few times and the Doctor and he had gotten on, almost, in their mutual disgust with Time Lord arrogance and austerity. Those diplomatic stays in Gallifrey's capitol hadn't ended well, and the Time Lords had effectively cut off dealings with the Olympians, but that was centuries ago! And Olympians weren't really uptight, even if they did know how to carry a grudge for… well, ever.<p>

Still! Olympia! Hadn't been here since he escaped the dungeons of Apollo! Very exciting! And the boys - oh, right, the boys, he should probably go collect them - were getting a sight that no one in the universe really ever got to see.

He fished around in his pockets for some gold coins and offered them to the merchant for the fruit he had picked. She smiled and accepted them with a bow, pushing a few pastries filled with date jam in his direction. He stuffed one whole into his mouth and grinned.

Loved this planet. Best tarts and treats anywhere.

He set off to collect the Beta and Omega. He passed by a shop selling bolts of the shining silks that adorned the planet's people and a length that was an exact shade of TARDIS blue caught his eye. He stopped to pet it, and the vendor scowled momentarily at him and his sticky fingers, before adopting an expression of submissive interest. He grinned sheepishly and offered her a few of his remaining coins. Her demeanour changed instantly and she plucked the swath of silk from the wall, wrapping it around his neck and leaning in to kiss each of his cheeks.

They certainly had gotten friendlier here!

Come to think of it, he'd never met a female Olympian. And he wasn't seeing any male ones as he looked around either. Only ladies. Interesting.

The woman plucked another bit of silk in a pale gold colour spangled with swirls and stars from the wall and tied it about his waist. "This will bring you good fortune, young man. May the Wolf Goddess keep you ever in favour!"

"I'm sorry, did you say, Wolf Goddess?"

"Of course! Lycanea, and may her light shine upon you!"

"But, isn't this City devoted to Zeus Lycaeus?"

"Not for hundreds of years! Not since the Great Purge. Where are you from, stranger?"

"Oh, I get restless. I travel around here and there. The Great Purge?"

"Yes, when all the women were banished to these out-land cities to protect our peace and virtue. Surely you know! It is a rare treat to have a man call on us! Thank you for the blessings you have offered!"

"Right. You're welcome. Should I... Not be here? My last visit was before the Purge."

"Good sir, men are always welcome here. It is the women that cannot go to the Capitol Cities."

"Yes, of course. Stupid of me. Carry on."

Something was definitely, very much not right. Segregation of the sexes? On Olympia? That couldn't be right! These people revelled in the company of the opposite sex - had fertility festivals in the names of Aphrodite and Hestia that lasted weeks! They'd never been so abstemious. What the devil had happened?

Right. First, he'd get the Tylers. Then they'd figure out what was going on.

When he returned to the courtyard, the boys were nowhere in sight.

Did no one listen when he said, 'Don't wander off?' No, they really didn't. Long gone were the days when he had an old face that young people listened to and followed his directives implicitly. Actually, had they ever? Forget it, didn't matter. Finding the Tylers mattered, so that's what he'd do.

* * *

><p>Torin found himself staring up at a shrine dedicated to a howling wolf. Garlands of pink and yellow roses draped the altar and lined the marble walls, and offerings of strange golden fruit sat in woven baskets before him.<p>

Out of curiosity he picked one up and bit into it. His eyes widened, then rolled back with pleasure. It was indescribably heavenly with a mellow sweetness and a slightly tart aftertaste, and juice dripped down his chin as he chewed. He'd eaten the whole thing in a matter of seconds and quickly snatched up another. He'd eaten four and was going in for a fifth when his wrist was seized in a steely grip by gnarled golden fingers.

"Oh. Hello!" He said to the silver-haired crone that was glaring at him. "Good, those! What are they?"

He felt a tingling emanating from her fingers and a pushing at the back of his consciousness. He quickly tried to re-enforce his barriers as she prodded.

"Stealing the offerings of the sacred fruit to Lycanea is utterly disrespectful, boy! Why would you do such a thing?"

"Right! Sorry! Didn't mean to offend! I was curious and it was quite delicious. Got carried away. Won't happen again."

"What are you, child?"

Oh. Not good. Bloody non-existent impulse control. "A _man_! Good Lord! Haven't you ever seen one before?"

She relaxed a bit and let go of his now aching wrist. "Not in many many years. You have something of the wolf about you."

"Oh, do I? That's interesting. Well, places to see and all! Good chat." He tried to scurry away but she stepped in front of him.

"I think you will find what you have come looking for if you follow me."

"Weeell, you see, I'm not really looking for anything. Just - er - you know, seeing - er - the sights. Lot's of sights about. Not here. Out there. More out there than in here, actually. So I'll be going. Out there." He moved to go around her several times, but she kept putting herself directly in his path. "Right. If you'll just move over a bit this will work much better."

Several more wrinkled old women in grey robes appeared from behind the altar and surrounded him.

So, bit of a pickle. A little tricky, sure. Just a tad not good.

"I do insist, you see."

"Ah, yes. I'm gathering that. Genius, me. Any chance I can persuade you not to? Insist, that is."

Many pairs of hands grabbed him from all sides in answer.

"That'll be a no, then."

* * *

><p>Clytie was absolutely entrancing. It was the way she moved about like she weighed no more than a feather, or maybe the way the sunlight caught her hair just right and it shined like rose gold, or the way her bottle-green eyes danced as she named each flower they passed, or her slender golden arm felt tucked into his own - not that he could feel her skin, but he imagined it was soft and velvety - or how each time she offered him a bit of fruit, she brought it right to his lips and delighted in the pleasure she saw in his eyes. Or maybe it was the way she laughed when he blustered and made speeches worthy of Torin's Almighty Gob. He was feeling like a goner already and he hadn't known her three hours! Only two hours, thirty-eight minutes and five seconds.<p>

"Helios Shining?" She caressed his name - well, sort of his name - in her mouth like a lover's embrace. He didn't think he was imagining it.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you from? Your words are strange, and your attire unlike I have seen, and you speak of places that I am sure are not found anywhere on Olympia. Your mind too is closed to me. Are you a god?"

He choked and sputtered. "What? No! Of course not! Nowhere near! I'm just a - a person! A travelling person, who - er - travels, and er - popped in for a bit to see the sights and such! Beautiful here, you know?" he said looking only at her as he did.

She smiled, and his legs felt wobbly. "Will you be travelling again soon?"

His stomach dropped. "Well, yeah, I guess I will. See I'm not by myself. My - er - family is here with me and we - er - really can't stay."

She cast her eyes downward sadly, and nodded. "Is it very strange that I feel I know you, Helios Shining? Like I have known you for thousands of years."

He swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. "Not at all, Clytie. I - er - feel like that too. Wait, thousands of years? How old are you?"

She laughed. "Ageless of course. You are not?"

"No. Not quite. Old enough, but well, that's amazing, yeah? Have you always lived here?"

"No. I lived once in the Capitol City of Zeus Olympus, but that was long ago when this planet was very different."

"Different? Different how? I - er - don't know much about Olympia, but I'd like to very much - if _you'll_ tell me."

They sat together near the stream that fed the city's canal system and she reached out a couple slender fingers to the cool water. She didn't speak for three minutes and eleven seconds while she thought, and the only sounds were bird song and the babbling brook before them.

"Long ago," she began timidly, "my people lived as one. The peace and prosperity was universal and without exception. We were the models to many other worlds of culture and government and knowledge. Our influence was far reaching and our lives blessed. Then hundreds of years ago, a war came to the planet of the Lords of Time and a man, fleeing from its ravages, sought safe-haven here. At first, we welcomed him and made him a part of all that we could. He was thankful and charming and eager to share his knowledge. We had so much to learn about his people, having never really associated much with the Lords of Time, and he shared unreservedly. His influence ushered in a period of great technological advance and we rejoiced, but the man was insidious, and betrayed our trust. He killed our High Lord Zeus Thunderous and together with the traitorous Lady Hera they unleashed the Titans and conquered and slaughtered so many. We had not experienced such wanton destruction and death since the High Lord Zeus imprisoned the Titans in the Before Time, and we were devastated. We had no hope, and the few lands where resistance still existed were soon to be crushed when the Wolf Goddess came. She destroyed the Titans and banished the Lord of Time and the Lady Hera forever. I know not where they fled, the Lord, it is said went back to the stars and perhaps to his war, and the Lady with him, though some say she is still cowering on the great mountain, waiting for the Lord to return for her. " She heaved a sigh before continuing her tale. "The Wolf Goddess was never seen again, and my people, torn and broken, were left to rebuild. A new High Lord was elected but my people remained divided. Some believed the fault of our suffering lie with the man, others said it was the Lady's evil influence that inspired such heinous acts, so the High Lord decreed that peace was best kept if the sexes no longer influenced each other, and all of Olympia's women were sent to cities outside Zeus Olympus. We are forbidden to travel to the inner cities, though the men may come here to trade and propagate."

"Do you ever wish it could go back? To the way it was, I mean, without everything being separate? Seems wrong that you can never go home again." Lios frowned. Her story had gutted him. He wondered whom the Time Lord that cocked everything up had been.

"Yes, I miss the place of my birth immensely. I am thankful for the peace, however."

"Yeah, I guess that's something. But this can't be the only way, can it? Why hasn't anyone tried putting it right? Or rather back the way it was. Surely, that was long enough ago at this point, you lot could give it another go?"

"Only the High Lord may change the laws." She smiled sadly and returned her gaze to the water.

His heart broke for her and her people. Surely they could do something! A Time Lord made this mess. Perhaps a few of them could fix it?

He got to his feet and pulled her up after him. "Come on, Clytie. There's someone you should meet."

"Oh? Another traveller?"

"Yes. He's called the Doctor."


	13. Ambrosia

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who nor profit from the writing of this story.**

* * *

><p>"If you laugh or make a single joke, I swear on my TARDIS, I'll chuck you into the next back hole we pass."<p>

The Alpha and Jack had painted themselves gold to blend in with the natives and donned appropriate apparel from the TARDIS wardrobe. Selene's robes were silver and midnight blue with silver spangles that twinkled like stars in the night sky. It clung to her body femininely in the middle bits and floated away from her legs and upper body, leaving her neck and arms exposed. It was extremely awkward for her and she longed for her trousers, jumper and boots. The strappy sandals and flimsy gown would be bloody ridiculous to try and run in. She fervently hoped those three prats hadn't caused any trouble so she and Jack could just collect them and go. At least the paint covered her markings completely and she shouldn't need to stress over keeping them hidden - so long as no one doused her with water and it didn't rain.

"Not a chance. You are stunning. Seriously. Drop dead gorgeous. And a girl! I'd never have guessed - OW! That was the only one! I swear!"

Jack's own Chiton was a deep crimson and half the length of hers, trimmed in a golden Greek key design. His muscular legs sparkled with the gold paint and accentuated the contours and tone. Not that she'd been looking. She definitely hadn't been looking. She hoped he was wearing pants beneath, but knowing Jack…

She cleared her throat and shook her head. "Ok. We need a plan, yeah? These people're really strong telepaths, so make sure you don' make skin on skin contact for too long, yeah? I'm dead serious about tha', Harkness. _Don' try to have it off with anyone."_

"Sweetheart -"

"An' maybe I better go over shieldin' again. Shieldin' won' work for long if you're touchin', 'specially since your brain biology isn't as advanced as mine. You're not bad for havin' a titchy brain an' all, but you'll never last long against these people."

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Judgin' by the amount of water evaporation, diffusion of the leaves, an' temperature of the tea -"

"No way. You're full of it."

"- they been gone four hours an' nine minutes give or take a minute. Ok, maybe two. They really can't've gotten too far on foot. An' two of 'em have attention spans of toddlers. A 27.92 kilometre radius tops. 'S doable. Unless they got in a cruiser - or a teleport - so we should have a look at wha' they use to get 'round. I know we'd cover more ground if we split, but I don't wanna lose you too so, here's wha' we'll -"

"Selene…"

She started pacing in front of the doors. "If there's a market, we can ask if any strange blokes - an' let's hope they'd the sense to stay together - any blokes have come wanderin' through. Wha' am I sayin'? 'S always a market-"

"Selene."

"An' if no one's seen 'em, then we should split. I'll check the lock up - though maybe we should do tha' straight off anyway - an' you-"

"_Selene!_"

"Wha?!" She halted her pacing and glared at him.

"You're doing it again."

"Well, yeah! How divvy do you think I am? Not gonna run 'round without any idea wha' I'm meant to be doin'!"

He reached out and took put his hands on her shimmering shoulders stroking the golden skin that was so rarely ever allowed to see the light of day. "You don't need to plan every second of your life! Relax and you just might have - God forbid - a little fun."

"This is _serious,_ Harkness. Not the time for havin' a laugh."

"You're impossible."

"No, jus' not thick."

"Do you trust me?"

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Yeah, 'course, but my family is out there on a planet tha' hates 'em on principle. D'you know wha' I read earlier? 'S not -"

He grinned and talked right over her. "Do you know how many times I've done this type of thing?"

"Wha'? Gone out in public painted arse to elbows? Probably loads, but I don' wanna know 'bout it."

He guffawed and kissed her hair. "Oh, shut up. Let's go." He spun her on the spot and frog-marched her out the TARDIS doors.

Both their jaws hung open as they took in the beauty of Olympia, which in the late morning sun shone like gold everywhere. The courtyard was full of Olympian women that were languorously stretching out and eating fruit by the canals and gossiping happily. A white capped mountain dominated the horizon, and the Alpha's senses were assaulted with the various perfumes of the many gardens and smells of freshly baked goods. She hadn't realised how hungry she was until the sweet and savoury smells beckoned to her.

Right. Not time to muck about thinking about eating and she was skint anyway.

Forcing herself to focus, she scanned her immediate surrounding for the familiar figures of her brothers to no avail. Brows knitted, she grabbed Jack's hand and charged forward into the throng.

Avoiding direct skin to skin contact seemed all but impossible without her accustomed layers. The marketplace was thick with women that seemed to have no concept of personal space. They reached out to each other and kissed cheeks at each meeting and farewell and touched or held hands while they chatted. There was always someone trying to stroke her arms or caress her cheeks, or reach out and brush fingers through her choppy black locks. She swallowed the urge to bat hands away left and right from her and Jack, wouldn't do to stick out when this seemed to be the cultural norm. She just made sure she had thick walls surrounding her mind and concentrated on scanning for familiar faces.

Jack, of course was on cloud nine. He must have decided when in Rome - er - no, that idiom would be stupid, never mind. But he was very happy to return every caress and kiss. It made her unreasonably irritable. When he stopped for a couple proper snogs, the Alpha angrily considered just leaving him to it so he'd stop slowing her down. The upside was that these people seemed to take to him and shoved food at him with not a little annoyingly coquettish simpering. He happily divided the spoils as they walked.

"Oh," she practically moaned with pleasure at the flavours on her tongue. "Tha' is _gorgeous!_ Jack try gettin' a few more of those bits with the fig and custard, an' more of the veg pasties. Blimey, I wish I had pockets."

"That sounds suspiciously like enjoyment. Careful or you may end up having the 'f' word."

"Shut up. Pass us one of them bottles then. I'm sponged." He handed it to her and went to talk to a blonde in a silver sash. Just as she lifted the bottle of sweet-smelling amber liquid to her lips the was nearly knocked off her feet when someone collided with her, spilling the juice all over her right hand and forearm. The paint started to run and she warred with her internal panic and the urge to shout at whoever was sprawled at her feet. She hastily dabbed at the smeared areas but only succeeded in staining the silver sash with gold and exposing a noticeable patch of pink skin with swirling golden circles.

As he clambered to his feet, the Alpha saw who had run into her, and blanched beneath her gold camouflage. Right. Bad timing.

The Doctor apologised without looking at her and continued trying to manoeuvre through the crowd while touching as few people as possible.

She ripped the stained bit from her skirts and tied it as artfully as she could manage around the exposed bit of skin, then ran and grabbed Jack away from the woman he was chatting up. Just in time too, he had just started to unclasp the left side of his robe - _what the bleedin'_ - never mind - and dragged him along as she ran after the Doctor.

He kept ducking out of her sight, and she'd have to put on a burst of speed to recover ground once she spied him again. She knew she lost Jack after the third time this had happened, but there was no time to go back for him, and little danger to him really. The Doctor had slipped away again and she was spinning in circles to find him. She spotted him talking to a woman selling baubles nearly half a kilometre away. There had to be a way to get his attention before he ducked out of sight again.

She stooped as she waited for the path to clear, scooping up a small stone, took aim and threw it as hard as she could at his left shoulder, praying no one made a sudden turn into it's trajectory.

The Doctor clutched at his shoulder and spun in her direction searching the crowd. His eyes glossed over her once, twice, then snapped back and glared at her.

She let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and ran toward him with a cheeky grin.

"Tyler, as glad as I am to see you, I wish you would find a new way of getting my attention, honestly! That bloody hurts! What are you wearing? You really outdid yourself. I'm properly impressed. What is that?" He pointed the sonic at her skin to scan the particulate make-up of the gold facade then rubbed at her shoulder with a finger. She batted it away. "Brilliant! Very realistic looking!"

"Actually, was a compound the TARDIS came up with to allow for maximum breathability an' heat ven'ilation," she grinned, "though tha's more for Jack's sake 'cos he's still got tha' rubbish human vascular system. Two hearts're better than one, eh? Bit cold when she sprayed it on though. Then she hot air-dried me! The things tha' ol' girl can do. Madness, I'm tellin' you. Oi! Now's not the time to be talkin' 'bout this, is it! You're distractin' me! Where're my brothers?"

"I'll find them. Don't worry."

She went very still and closed her eyes. Then she huffed and shook her head. "I could shout at you, an' tell you all of wha's in my head right now, but no real point, innit?"

The Doctor looked at her like she'd grown two heads. He took the sonic out again and scanned her face. She batted it away and started to giggle, then caught herself with a hand over her mouth and knitted her eyebrows together.

"Go on, scan then. I ate loads of food tha' I didn't even think about identifyin' first, an' I do feel a bit loose. Strangish. Not normal. Go on."

He scanned her before asking, "Did you have anything to drink?" then checked the results with a frown.

"Nah, well, almost but you crashed into me an' spilt it all, didn't you?"

"Oh, was that you then?"

"Yeah, you barmy git!"

"There's nothing wrong with you. Maybe a _little_ less inhibited if you ate something with the gold fruit in it, but nothing concerning and so as long as you stay away from drinking anything but water, you'll be fine. Well, I suppose if you ate _large_ amounts of the fruit Ambrosia Nectar is made from, you might have a bit of a problem, but no one is allowed to eat them in any kind of real quantity. You'd really have to eat two or three entire fruit, so, well, I think you're fine." He stowed the sonic back in his jacket pocket and pulled her with him into a more secluded alcove where they wouldn't constantly have to dodge the touches and telepathic nudges from the throng of women around the bazaar.

"How long've they been gone?"

"What? Oh, yes, right. Nearly five hours. Four hours, forty-one minutes."

"Right. All day. Beau'iful. Perfect. How dangerous would it be to - er - call out to 'em telepathically then?"

"Well, you'd basically be shouting to everyone in the city, so I'd say very, and - hello - rude!"

"Yeah, a bit."

"You think?"

"So, I had this whole thing planned where I asked about an' people gave me answers, but you've done that one, haven't you, an', unless you're an utter clod, 's not working. So, where do they lock people up here then?"

"Thankfully, I am not a clod and as far as I can tell, there isn't any such place here in this city. Haven't you noticed yet? And you're having a go a me for being thick?"

She stepped back and surveyed the picture painted before her, taking in every detail she could. Nothing seemed out of place, or dodgy in any way, but she wasn't exactly an expert on the cultural norms.

"Let go of the fine details, Alpha. Stop dissecting and tell me what's all around you."

"Loads of women floggin' stuff an' chattin'."

"Say it again."

"Load of… oh. Oh, I _am_ thick! How did I _miss_ tha'?"

"Can't get too caught up in looking for patterns and allow yourself to actually _see_ them. Take them in. Bigger picture and all. Your mum was brilliant at that."

"Yeah... I know. So, you think they've got 'em somewhere secret then, no cells to keep 'em in since an all female society in a theoretical sense should be utopian paradise. But 's not, is it?"

"Not even close. And I mean you, on both counts, but nice try. Prisoners on Olympia, male and female are teleported directly to the nearest Capitol City, so no need for any kind of holding area in the lesser cities. Women are more than capable of committing crimes and they know it. _Utopian paradise._ Honestly! Have you _looked_ in the mirror lately? You're scarier than half the things I've come up against anywhere in the wide universe. I've met Daleks that were less steely than you."

"I really do hate you, you know."

"And your brothers are in the middle of a city filled with beautiful, interesting and very _friendly_ women. I don't think they're prisoners at all. I think they're chatting up girls and don't want to be found yet."

"_Chatting up girls?_"

He reached up and pushed back his wayward fringe awkwardly, and examined his shoe laces. "Yes, I understand that's what young men often do in situations where they come across attractive women. Especially if they were never told that Ti- that we aren't supposed to be interested in - er - chatting up girls."

"You've never had a problem with it, have you?" she smirked and rolled her amber eyes.

"Oi! Me? I do not - I have never -"

"_I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet spinning at a thousand miles an hour.._" She affected a Northern burr and yanked at her ears then her smirk widened into a downright smug grin. "You can't tell me you weren't tryin'a get off with my mum then."

"That's cheating, that is, you little terror."

The teasing look dropped without a trace, she scanned the crowd again and tapped her foot. "They're _never_ chasin' after women. I know my brothers. They're jus' not. Someone's got 'em an' -"

"Let it go, Alpha. Aren't you interested in why there are only females as far as the eye can see?"

"Not really. Ta."

"I mean, it's not right, is it?"

"Really jus' want my brothers back 's all."

"Something had to have happened. There had to have been a catalyst."

"You stopped listenin' to me before you even started talkin'."

"What could make a society that once had entire festivals devoted to love and mating suddenly split in two?"

"We should get Jack. He's probably right pissed. Didn't know 'bout the drinking."

"It had to have been of enormous significance! I mean they call the eviction of every female from the inner cities 'The Great Purge!' That's a bit harsh, don't you think? Says something about the attitude of it all. I mean, why not 'The Great Separation' or 'The Great Divide?' No, they call it the 'Purge,' like women are evil or corrupt or somehow less than desirable, and they've never even met _you_."

"Oi!"

"Very not nice, and not at all like the society I recall."

"Maybe they were miffed after their queen person went mental."

"What? What was that? Repeat that last thing you said."

"Welcome back then. I _said,_ maybe after the old queen went completely mental an' killed half her people, they quite likely got a _bit_ put out by it, an' did somethin' drastic. Try readin' a bit before you leave the TARDIS sometime!" She shook her head.

"Oi! I happen to be an expert on all sorts of history! My history-memory is perfect!"

"Yet you didn't remember the second biggest disaster in their entire cultural past."

"And you call yourself a Ti- Tell me I don't have to say it." His impatience dripping in his voice, he gave her a sceptical look. She just stared in response. "Time can-"

She smacked herself on the forehead. "Can be re-written, yeah. Point taken. I'm a div. So, the queen goin' mad might be a symptom, not the cause."

"Finally, you're being clever. What else did you read then?"

"'S rumoured was her an' one of _us_. Dunno who. But there's no hard evidence one way or the other. Some claim the war machines they were able to build jus' before all the people got slaughtered were only possible because one of us came up with 'em. But they were massive an' did unbelievable damage. They were called The Titans. Death engines. 'S why they hate us so much. Was more but tha's as far as I got before deciding to come after sharpish. I dunno how dangerous these people're meant to be, but I'm sure I don't wanna cross 'em an' find out."

The Doctor was very still and seemed to be examining what she'd said very carefully. He didn't speak for a long time and when he finally found his voice it was strained and somehow disconsolate. "I believe I know who it may have been. When was it?"

"Bit over five centuries back from when we are."

He yanked at his fringe. "Yes… Come along, Tyler. Back to the TARDIS. Time to visit the inner cities, eh?" He grabbed her hand and began pulling her along behind him.

"Oi! Wha'bout Jack an' my brothers?"

"We'll collect them on the way, I'm sure."


	14. Escape and Capture

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who nor profit from the writing of this story.**

**Shenanigans with plot nuggets. Unapologetic, me. Shenanigans and the Doctor go hand in hand.**

* * *

><p>Lios woke alone, only in his pants, and with a massive headache. His head felt like a platoon of Judoon had been having a kickabout inside while he slept. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten tied down, let alone remembered how he'd ended up on a stone slab in the dark room. The last he could recall he was still walking back by the stream outside town to find the Doctor, he'd eaten a bit more fruit and just worked up enough nerve to lean in and kiss Clytie - <em>Clytie!<em>

Where was she? He hoped she was ok! He had to get out of this and find her! He had to make sure she was safe. If anything had happened to her because of him, how could he ever forgive himself?

First he needed to figure out where he was. He let himself relax and absorb the room, from the climate and moisture content of the air to the exact number of lumens penetrating the near total darkness, the directions from which each muffled noise was coming, and his relative position in the room to the nearest potential exit point. He separated the new smells like wood and limestone and mould and damp from the familiar that he'd noted on the street, and opened his time senses to pinpoint timelines above in all directions, on his level ninety paces to his left and their number of owners. The minute details merging with the ambient and finally creating a clearer map in his mind of his location and predicament.

He had been unconscious for three hours and thirty-six minutes and three seconds. It had been six hours and thirteen minutes since they'd left the TARDIS, six hours and two minutes since he lost track of his brother and the Doctor, five hours and fifty-six minutes since he met Clytie, and it would be at least fifteen minutes before he could work a limb free from his bindings. And he would have rope burns everywhere. Nasty ones.

He wished for all the worlds he had their sonic. Why was Torin always the one in charge of it? He'd most certainly be asking the Doctor to make him one when he got out of this and back to the TARDIS. This was bollocks.

The ropes were already biting into his flesh as he wriggled as best he could in his prostrate position. He bit his lip and strained upward. It stretched marginally, he let out the breath he'd been holding and relaxed for a moment.

Faint singing was coming from a nearby room. Strange. He hadn't felt a timeline from that direction.

He concentrated on the voice.

Male. Young. Familiar. Also utterly pissed.

Torin.

He could properly hear him now and smirked. He'd never let him live this one down.

"_'scaape fr'mmm reeealityyy. Ooopnyerrreeeeeyyyyeeees looook uhptoooo thskiiieeeszzaaaannnn seeeeeeeeeeee! I'm jusssa poooor booooy! I neenooo syym-paaath-eeeeee."_

He thanked whoever watched over him and his family for this moment and silently promised to project it to him every chance he got, then went back to straining against his restraints as Torin crooned.

_"Ummeeeeeezeeee comeeeeeeeeezeeeeee gooooo. Liiiiddle hiii liiiddleohhh!"_

Lios felt a capillary break in his right eye but strained harder.

_"Dooozzen reeeeeaaallyyy maaaaaaaaddddeeerrr toooo meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"_

His respiratory bypass had kicked in and he felt a trickle of blood run down his arm.

_"Toooooooooooooooo meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Evvvvvrybuddy!"_

He fell back again panting.

_"Aaannnyywaaayyy thaawiiinn blloooohhhzzz no diddat biddawlreddy. OOIII! GODANNYMORRATHAFROOTAY? OOOOOOIIIII! OOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIYYYYYUH!"_

Ignoring that his head and skin felt like they were on fire, Lios pushed once again. This time he was rewarded with a gratifying snap that thankfully didn't come from anywhere inside his body.

_"MMMMMMAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAA! OOOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooooh!"_

Footsteps hurriedly sounded in the hall on his left and moved toward him, then passed, and continued to where Torin was squawking.

_"Fyyymm nnaawwbbaaack aaaggeeen oh, ellodere! Finelee commuh join meyay? Dyou noduh one thagoes -"_

He heard scuffling sounds and grunts followed by a pained yelp then a thump and struggled even harder. He had to get to his brother. Torin could annoy the hell out of anyone when he put his mind to it, and well, if he'd been singing the Bohemian Rhapsody that badly for the last few hours, he honestly didn't know what it would make _even him_ capable of.

Nothing for it. He'd have to dislocate his shoulder to work an arm free. He wriggled into a position that would give him the leverage he needed, ignoring the bleeding sores on his chest and arms as well as he could, and took a deep breath, counting down from five. Before he made it to three, he heard the door to the chamber creak open slightly, and a shaft of light penetrated the darkness. The figure in the doorway was tentatively inspecting the room. He feigned unconsciousness. It would never do to have them get close enough to see him bloody and know what he was attempting an escape.

"Lios?"

Torin! Oh, thank God! Brilliant! He had the cleverest family in all of existence, didn't he?

"Oi, you stupid-arsed, bloody _beautiful_ git. I've never been so happy to see your daft, tone-deaf, bampot face! But don't just gawk at me! Shut up and come untie me!" He whispered fervently.

Torin swayed into the room and started tugging at the ropes binding his younger sibling. The welts and cuts stung and burned as Torin tugged but Lios bit his lip and swallowed the grunts of pain that threatened to escape him.

"Trusstup like a… er… what? Oh, yeah… yer tieddup!" He slurred into the silence.

Li heard a whirring noise, then ropes finally lost all tension and he let out an involuntary moan of relief. "Properly inebriated then? You weren't faking? How did that even happen?" He gingerly touched the more painful areas on his shoulders. They were still oozing and needed attention, but he didn't feel like cannibalising his pants for bandages and running around starkers while they legged it. He noticed that Torin, too, was in only his pants. "And how did you get out on your own?"

Torin grinned almost lazily and held up the sonic. "Hiddit - er - yeah - wheney firs' goddaolda me. Don' ask." His grin abruptly disappeared. "An' if you bloody tell _one word_ t'Alpha 'bouddit, _I will destroy you._" The last bit came out remarkably clear and Lios choked back his his laugh and focused.

"How long do you think before the one you took out is missed?"

"Erm… what?"

"Never mind. We just need to get moving. And we need to sober you up."

"'S tha frooot. Gesya righ' tosst. Makes yer brain fuzzy an' yer eazyer to 'nvade." He touched his head to indicate. "'S tha ony reason tha' scrubba wasn' careful. K'n metab'lise though. Juss needa onion few gherk'ns, maybe piggled onions'ood work too, a bitta gingahroot an' a cuppla dates. Be me sortedenall."

"First we need clothes. Anything we can find. Alpha would go mental if we ran around with our arms out like this. Maybe we should - er - go take the clothes off the one you… what did you do anyway?"

Torin shrugged and pointed at his forehead. "Sleepin. Screamed realoud in'ere till she brokeabit th'n suggessed she sleep. Be outta while yet."

The Omega got to his feet and pulled his brother to the door. "Brilliant. Completely pissed and still dangerous. Utterly brilliant." He whispered with not a little pride.

The curly haired brother grinned sheepishly and they crept down the hallway to where he had been kept.

"Can't you do something about the light?"

"Erm… dunno… lemme feelawall…"

"No, you idiot - gimme the sonic! You can't have it back until after you've metabolised all that! Honestly!" He set the gadget and pointed it at the ceiling. The room lightened and they looked down at the unconscious old woman.

"R'we reeeally takin' her dress'en?"

"Got to. Can't run around in our pants! We'll be nabbed straight away! It's just until we find our clothes or something better. You think anyone here would recognise Gallifreyan?" He said eyeing his Torin's right arm then glancing at his own left.

Torin shrugged and leaned against the doorjamb. "Better not tarisk it."

"Who… who goes then?"

The Beta stared blearily at his brother then started examining the woodgrain of the door. "I putturout. Di'my bit. You can do thizbit."

Lios scowled but strode in and set about the task with no further hesitation. Once he had divested her of the garment he split it down the middle, giving each of them a sizeable rectangle to tie about their shoulders like togas. Then he fished about in her sashes for a couple that were not totally sheer and wrapped them like bandages around his and Torin's arms.

"Sorted then… Should we - er - I feel like a sod leaving her like this…"

"Who cares?! She tried ta break inta my'ed! Commonen! Erm… Wanna hava poke'bout abit firs? I mean, forwe go."

"I have to find Clytie, so yeah." Torin cocked his head and his brother shrugged. Then Torin grinned slowly and he blushed furiously. "Shut up."

"Yeah? She fit?"

The younger only socked the older in reply.

"Ooouuf! Prat! Less fine yer girl."

* * *

><p>The Doctor and the Alpha were nearing the TARDIS and they'd still had no sign of Jack, the Beta, or the Omega. It was just passing midday, and the streets were empty. Where it had been thronging only minutes before, the bazaar was now empty of even the women peddling their wares. It was eerie and silent.<p>

Now completely exposed and steadily becoming convinced that they were facing a bit, yes, some actual danger, the Doctor kept them skulking in byways and skirting around stands. The last thing he wanted was to attract undue attention before he'd figured out a way to sort the mess on this planet. He would pilot the TARDIS directly into one of the inner cities, and read the history text that the Alpha had mentioned. He could fix it. She could help. They could get her brothers. Then back to the TARDIS and on to anywhere else that wasn't here.

"You're little." He remarked as the girl crouched easily in the shadows below him.

The Alpha scowled. "Cheers for noticin'." Her skin was pricking with anxiety and she was on high alert.

He made sure the coast was clear and grabbed her hand and they ran across the small bridge over a canal. "Well, you're always all imposing and gruff in layer after layer and then you cover them all in leather and eyebrows." Leather and Eyebrows was perfect! He'd use that often. "You - er - look ok like this. Not soft or feminine, I mean, and forget ever being called warm or cuddly. Girls like to hear all this nonsense, right?"

She shot her foot out fluidly to trip him and left him where he fell.

"Rassilon, you're abusive. I'm _trying_ to be nice to you!" He accused in a furious whisper when he caught up to where she was crouching and scanning.

"Doctor, not all girls want to be told they're pretty. Stop trying so hard. If it sounds like nonsense to you, I'll probably think it's completely ridiculous, alright?"

"Oh, well, I certainly wasn't telling you you're pretty."

"Good."

"Just littler than I thought."

"Great."

"Not so heavy machinery and motor grease. With muscles. And hitting. That's all a facade, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, some people have a hard time takin' me seriously otherwise. You look hard right off an' you don't have to faff about provin' you're hard to any idiots that'd walk all over girls jus' 'cos they're girls."

"Always with the shoulder and the chip and the scowling. I find it hard to believe anyone could look at you and not believe you capable of obliterating them whatever you're in."

"You didn't."

"Oh, I thought you'd try. I just knew I was harder, The Oncoming Storm and Destroyer of Worlds, me. You're just the Destroyer of All That is Fun and Happy."

"Oi! Always takin' the piss. Keep it up, pensioner. Let's put tha' theory to the test, then." He grabbed her hand again and they ran to the next an alleyway. "I hate long skirts. I can see why you can't be bothered." She was starting to look a bit knackered. Her skirt was shredding, and the bit she'd wrapped on her arm no longer looked like decoration and resembled only a ragged silver bandage. She'd bin it all when they reached home.

"With skirts?"

"No, Dum-dum, disguises. Didn't last half a day this." She was quiet for a while as they slipped between the stands in the bazaar. Then without preamble she offered, "My last face was a bit more difficult to make convincin'. Easier to charm with though, tha' one. This body is better at stealth an' intimidation than coercion. Funny tha', innit? They can be tha' different?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "Had a body that loved a good karate chop once. Be stupid to even try it now. Did you know you'd regenerate?"

"No."

The Doctor nodded again, carefully keeping his face impassive, but let the statement go otherwise unremarked upon. "Were you ok?"

She didn't look at him, only stonily surveyed the scene. "Not really. Got sick for 'bout a week an' was in a coma for the first three days of it. Had no idea what to do, you know? My brothers were mad with worry and the TARDIS was dying. They woke me up early an' we fixed it."

"Neural implosions?"

"Yeah, among other things. Tea wasn't enough. Needed to sleep an' to soak in lavender, eucalyptus leaves, an' orange zest. An' wouldn't tha' be the one fruit tha' won't grow on Garazone Prime? Planet full of orange people an' no citrus fruit." She shook her head and smirked.

Her respiratory system had failed then as well. Most likely total lung collapse on one or both lobes. It must have been painful. "I'm sorry you were alone for that."

"I wasn't. My brothers were there for me."

"I mean, I'm sorry that all of you were alone for that."

"Oh."

"Just, 'oh?'"

"Yeah. Just, 'oh.' Look, bad time to have a chat, innit?"

"You started it."

"God, you're a child."

"Did you hear that?"

"Wha'?"

"Shut up."

She listened for a moment, trying to focus on the one sense, then heard the melodious chorus of voices the Doctor had caught. "Wha'…? What're they doin' then, do you think?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes but didn't answer. He was weighing his options. He took in the temple across from where they were skulking. He looked at the young woman posing as an Olympian. He took in her dishevelled appearance and made a decision. She wasn't going to like it, but they needed into the inner cities, and what better way than a teleport? And if her brothers had been sent in already, this was his best chance in finding them. She could get herself back to the TARDIS, he was almost positive. The mass of women approaching was growing in volume though they were still out of sight.

"Selene, I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say. Can you do that?"

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "You're getting yourself caught."

He nodded.

"Yeah, I can. Get my boys back. _I mean it._ I'll infiltrate here then."

"Didn't even have to ask. Get back to the TARDIS as soon as you can."

"Then wha?"

"What do you mean 'then wha'?'"

"_Then wha-t?_"

"_Then_ don't wander off! Stay there until I come back!"

"You're mental. Tha's never happenin'."

"Look, I can't be running around after you lot all the time! Someone has to stay where I can find them again! It's like herding cats with you three!"

"Four, Jack's runnin' about too. But shut up! No! I will not stay in the TARDIS. I'll find a way in after you!"

"Women aren't allowed, Selene!"

"Shut up callin' me tha'! An' when has somethin' like tha' ever stopped you, eh?"

"Pay attention, Tyler, here they come!" He pulled on her hand and dragged her to the marble and gold stairs leading to the temple. "Look upset!"

"Well, not much of a stretch, innit?"

"Just yell and shout at me a lot! Should be second nature! When you're all Leather and Eyebrows you're shouting at everyone constantly! I think I'm going to make it a rule that you have to be in skirts all the time if it cows you this much!"

"BLOODY WANKER! WHY D'YOU HAVE TO BE A BLEEDIN' ARSE ALL THE TIME, EH? LET GO OF ME! GOD! YOU'RE THE WORST! This ok? An' leather and eyebrows? Who're you to-"

"Perfect. Maybe you should fall or something."

"Wha'? Just fall? No, push me. Make it believable, at least!"

He halfheartedly pushed one shoulder and she launched herself to the ground with a piercing shriek, letting herself roll down a few stairs. He barely suppressed a grin.

The crowd was nearly upon them, each woman carrying an amphora or a basket of golden fruit. The women in the front had stopped their singing and were touching and whispering to each other.

"Doctor, you should yell back! HOW DARE YOU PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME AN' HURT ME! YOU HORRID, _HORRID_ MAN!"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"_You_ shout at _me_ all the time too! Think of something or _make it up!_ NO! NO! JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME NOW! DON'T YOU TRY TO HURT ME AGAIN!"

"YOU'RE A SNEAKY LITTLE TERROR AND YOU ORDER EVERYONE ABOUT! COME NEAR ME AGAIN AND YOU'LL GET WORSE!"

She started to laugh, and she whimpered to cover it, but the fit of mirth quickly got out of hand and she couldn't continue shouting so she feigned tears and kept her head in her arms until they were surrounded.

The Doctor rounded on the mob and feigned surprise, jumping a little as he startled and gasped.

"Oh, hello, ladies! Why so cross?" The Doctor smiled cheekily.

* * *

><p>The Doctor was shoved into a small blank room, though why they had to shove was beyond him. He was going along as quiet as they pleased. And why wouldn't he? They were sending him, if he was right - and he very nearly always was - to the Capitol City of Apollo Zephyrus. The very city from which he'd made his last escape. It was a funny old life. Good though, that. He wouldn't have to get his bearings much - so long as it hadn't drastically changed in a few hundred years. But then, Olympians didn't really change much, and it certainly took a very long time - though of course, they were living in a gender segregated society currently, and that really <em>was<em> a big change, and not at all what one would have predicted with their history before whatever went wrong - er - went wrong. The point was that he was relatively certain, sort of, that he'd at least have an idea of the place.

He felt the air charge and prickle at his skin and knew they'd started up the teleport.

_Geronimo!_

He rematerialised in a similar blank white room and waited for guards to come fetch him.

He waited seven minutes and eighteen seconds with not even a hint of sound emergent.

He grinned and pulled out his sonic. He unlocked the door easily and stepped out with confidence. If he pretended he wasn't a prisoner, maybe no one would question it.

It was just a blank corridor with another door at the end. That door was unlocked, and as he pulled it open, he pulled out his psychic paper just in case.

However, he wasn't prepared for what lay beyond.

The city was in ruins. Marble lay chunked and strewn about everywhere in sizes ranging from that of a fist to entire columns which looked like they'd been thrown like sticks. Gold ornamentation was torn and blackened or melted but in peculiar patterns. Cut by lasers rather than burned in a large-scale fire. Everything was overgrown and mouldering as if the once war-zone had been abandoned for centuries. And abandoned was the magic word, wasn't it?

Where were the men? What had happened here? Why was he transported to an empty ruin? Didn't the women know that this inner city was destroyed and empty? And what were those vibrations he was feeling?

He bent, took out his sonic again and was about to scan a marble block to his right when he heard footsteps running his direction. He looked up and saw an Olympian man in a short red Chitan hurtling toward him.

"Doc!" The man yelled. "Run!"

"Harkness?" How in the -? It was then that the Doctor noticed what was chasing Jack. And, oh, it was not good. Absolutely gorgeous and utterly incredible. But not good.

Death engines, the Alpha had said. The Titans. This was a Titan.


	15. The Ruins of Olympia: Part 1

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who, nor do I profit from the writing of this story.**

**Mea Maxima Culpa for being slow with this update, but it's über long, so that's my Hail Mary. We'll finish on Olympia in the next chapter! **

* * *

><p>"Are you injured, Lady?" asked an Olympian woman with long strawberry hair and emerald eyes. Her voice was soft and melodious as she reached out and placed a hand on the Alpha's shoulder. The Alpha felt a nudge at the back of her consciousness and jerked away from her touch.<p>

"No! No, jus' shaken up a bit, y'know? Thanks - er - for gettin' rid of him. I'm not from around - er - this city, so could you tell me where you lot are goin'?" She schooled her features into a mask of sincere curiosity as she addressed the woman speaking to her.

"Surely you have midday devotions in…? From which city did you mention travelling?" The Olympian cocked her head and offered a hand to help her to her feet. She didn't take it, stood on her own, and looked around at the crowd surrounding her.

The majority of the women had gone into the temple, save the four that had hauled the Doctor away, but thirteen remained behind. Seemed like too many. Their charade must not have been very convincing. She would need to do some serious thinking on her feet if they were going to trust her enough to talk and not just arrest her too. She already had the disadvantage of the closed telepathic link. That would likely seem a bit dodgy.

"Oh, right, yeah, we do ours differently. Let's go in then."

"What is your name, Lady?"

Thank God for small favours. She carefully opened her mind a very controlled fraction and touched the woman addressing her to demonstrate the truth of her words. "Selene. What's yours then?"

The woman's suspicious demeanour softened and took on a reverent quality, "Lady Selene Luminous, I am Nymph Clytie. It is an honour to have you among us. We have been waiting."

"Right. 'Course you have." Probably not good. "Devotions then?" She made to move through the ring of golden, silk-swathed women, but they only smiled and barred her exit.

"No, I believe our Great Lady awaits you. We should not linger. We have waited so very long for your return."

Ye-p. Bad. "Have you now? Don't actually remember ever bein' here before, but you know, such a long life an' all, memory's goin' a bit. What've you been waitin' on then? There a moon ceremony soon?"

"If you will, yes. Please follow me. The others will be waiting as well."

Worse. "The others?"

"Yes, the lesser wolves."

"Wolves?"

"The others of your kind."

Oh, sod it all. "Right. When did you know then?"

Nymph Clytie smiled sweetly. "Perhaps ruses are better suited to lesser races. We have seen into the youngest wolf, and your name is known to me. I thank you for relinquishing pretenses. Will you follow us please?"

Better aliases. When on a planet of telepaths, one _must_ use better aliases. Perhaps 'John Smith' wasn't daft after all.

Maybe she was coming to understand what Jack had said about her compulsive planning. What she needed right at that moment was not a plan but the ability to improvise. She felt like a spectacular idiot. And she was supposed to be the responsible one. How the hell was she going to get them all out of this in one piece?

She shifted from foot to foot and huffed.

She was physically smaller than the Olympian women. Not much. But enough to make a difference. They ranged from near about her height to just over two metres, and though lean, they were muscular and each had at least two stone on her. She'd never overpower them, even if she went for the element of surprise. There were too many, all intent on watching her every move. She'd just see what they wanted and give them the slip when she could. At least she'd found out what happened to her brothers. _And it wasn't chatting up girls._ _Prat._

"Yeah, lead on."

The ladies maintained their perimeter around her as they led her through the temple where the rest of the townspeople went about their devotions - which seemed like they consisted of a lot of drinking and tapping into a single consciousness. They undulated to an unheard music and seemed to flit around the temple making preparations with offerings and rose garlands.

The Alpha was nearly knocked over by the force of the assault on her mind. It wasn't malicious, only inviting, but overwhelming - and not getting in, bollocks to that. She knew how easily a group of people could be tricked or influenced act in atrocious ways if they engaged in this kind of activity. Especially with regularity. It seriously alarmed her.

She was first led into an ante chamber where shimmering white and gold robes were lain out on a small altar. The women began tugging at her tattered ones and Nymph Clytie came forward with a basin of rose scented water and a sea sponge.

"No! No, no, no. None of that. Not necessary. Really. Please, jus' leave me be." She backed away into the waiting hands of two Olympians behind her.

"The Wolf Goddess has touched you, yet your glory is covered. We will remedy that. "

Oh, bloody hell! Disguise was stupid, she decided. She'd never do it again. Completely mental to trust paint and a few wisps of cloth. She yearned with both her hearts for her leather jacket.

"No, it's all covered for a reason! Look, I'm not happy 'bout it, but you were in my brother's head, yeah? I know you know I'm a Time Lady. You know tha' I know you lot don't care for Time Lords. I know tha' you know tha' I'm not a normal one either an' I wasn't a part of whatever happened here. An' you know tha' I know tha' you know enough to know tha' this could be very bad for me, so please, can we jus' skip it? I'm willing to help your people, yeah? But I need to stay covered until I can get home an' put my regular clothes back on!"

The hands on her tightened.

"Lady Selene Luminous, why would you ever leave us again?" The green-eyed woman looked hurt and confused. "Your coming has been foretold! You must not leave us!"

_Fantastic._

* * *

><p>For a Death Engine, it was elegant. Beautiful. Like an incredibly deadly piece of artwork. Humanoid in shape - or rather Olympian in shape - it stood five metres in height, and though it had legs, it didn't walk, it flew through the air causing a vibrating hum that reverberated through the marble of the city as it approached. The blue fire propelling it also trailed in its wake, catching on the overgrowth, and cutting off escape in that area. Its body was entirely gold in colour, and it was faceless. Instead of a visage of any sort, it had a glowing, silver multiport that alternated between scanner and weapon functions. Its body was perfectly sculpted into the Olympic ideal, and each arm and leg was made of metal bands that appeared to be able to reform into weapons - as one of the arms was doing just then.<p>

The Doctor aimed his sonic at the Titan and pushed the button. It turned its massive head in his direction and changed its trajectory from Harkness to where he was standing, but nothing else happened. Well, one never knows, does one? Disappointed that it hadn't fallen apart or exploded, but not an idiot, he tore after Jack. Just in time too, the ground behind him exploded and heat bathed his back as he ran. The shock wave nearly sent him sprawling, but he kept his footing and sprinted faster. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the arm was now a gold laser cannon, and the Titan's targeting scanner had a lock on him. Its head followed his every movement.

This was really very bad.

Maybe he just needed to find a different setting on the sonic, after all, it wasn't made of wood.

He made a sharp turn to the left and the ground exploded once again where he'd been. A large chunk of debris struck the back of his left shoulder and he winced as he felt blood soaking through his shirt and trickling down his back.

Hiding then. Hiding was good. Less running in plain view and more hiding was definitely better.

"Jack!" He screamed as he scanned the scene for any place that would offer shelter.

Jack was twenty metres ahead of him and all arse and elbows. He'd have to get to him first. He wasn't sure that even fixed point Jack Harkness could come back from being blown into a million bits, and had no intention of putting it to the test. Jack had too much to do in the Doctor's past and his own future. Stupid idea bringing him along, really. He'd really have to learn to say 'no' to Rose Tyler eyes, especially since they didn't belong to the right Tyler woman.

The Doctor closed the distance, grabbed Jack's arm, and pulled him down a crumbling alley as another explosion decimated the last wall of a building that had been beside them.

They ducked down low and crawled to the end of the stone alleyway where the Doctor had seen their only hope.

He ripped up the gold sewer grating and threw himself down into the hole. Jack fell on top of him a moment later. They waited a very pregnant moment as the vibrations increased to the point of pain in their heads. The Titan seemed to be hovering just above them and scanning.

Jack yanked on the Doctors arm and they ran down the tunnel. Not a half a minute later the area behind them caved in and burned and the vibrations moved off.

"So. That was aerobic," the Doctor grinned as Jack panted.

"What the hell was that thing?" Jack huffed.

"A Titan. Big weapon thingy bent on killing anything humanoid, but you must have worked that one out."

"Is it what destroyed everything?"

"That's the likeliest answer, yes."

"Are there more?"

"You tell me. It was chasing you."

Jack bent over with his hands on his knees and his bum resting against the wall, then stood and leaned his head back against the cool stone and closed his eyes. That had tired him out and his heart was still racing. "I only found the one. I was exploring when I stumbled onto it sitting dusty and lifeless in a yard full of broken ships. I thought it was a statue so I climbed on it to have a better look. I guess that wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done."

"Well, it answered some questions, honestly. And we had a good run. Love a good run. And we're not dead! Not too bad, I'd say!"

Jack grinned and nodded.

"How'd you get here then?"

"Got arrested. You?"

"Same. On purpose, of course. I certainly wasn't doing, well, whatever _you_ were."

"Where do you think the Titan went?" Jack hoped that it would just shut down again and assume it had killed them.

"Probably back to where you found it, but we can't risk it leaving the city now that it's awoken. We've got to shut it down, or it could slaughter the women too." The Doctor was pacing with a mad gleam in his eyes. The thrill and adrenaline were coursing through him, and his senses were primed for more action.

"Huh?"

"All the men here were killed by those things. I'm assuming we're dealing with more than one."

"All the men on the planet, or just this city?"

The Doctor shook his head and frowned. "I'm not sure yet. We should try teleporting into some of the other inner cities to check after we've dealt with the Titans here. I'm quite good with teleports. I'm sure I can get us wherever we need."

"As long as you're better with them than navigating the TARDIS."

"Oi!"

Jack grinned then grew serious again, "So, this sewer probably runs all through the city, we just need to find our bearings and I haven't the foggiest clue about this place."

"Luckily, I have. I've even used this very sewer system to escape once. Much cleaner now."

"Thank God for small favours," Jack said fervently. As far as sewer escapes went, this got top marks for cleanliness in his opinion, and he'd made a fair few in his lifetime. Though, being an abandoned city probably had something to do with that.

"How far away was the landing yard?"

"I'm guessing two miles east of here."

"Right. Ok. That puts us… Yep." He scanned the walls with the sonic and checked the results, and pushed back his fringe. "City centre should be about eighteen kilometres to the west of us, and so long as it's standing, the mainframe computers will be in the judicial building there. Come along." He made to go in the direction they'd come. "Right. Well, not that way."

"Not inspiring confidence here, Doc."

"Shut up. We just have to backtrack a bit what with the caving in and all."

"Uh-huh. Lets go stop a Titan, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Torin was rummaging through the cupboards in the temple above the basement where they'd been held. Ginger root was apparently not something used on this planet and he was searching for an acceptable alternate. He needed it to be similarly fibrous and acidic.<p>

Lios was keeping watch and blocked the door from opening while his brother tried to metabolise the toxins from the inebriating fruit, and in his opinion, Torin was being too picky and wasting time. He needed to find Clytie before anything happened to her, then they needed the Doctor. Nothing was right here, and the Doctor would know what to do.

"Think Alpha has come looking yet?"

Torin shrugged. He put a piece of a strange blue-green vegetable in his mouth, chewed experimentally, then spit it out vehemently. "Don' see whyshe would. Hasn' come outin days."

"She is getting a bit out of hand, isn't she?" Lios hated that Selene had withdrawn so much. She had lost anything gentle that she'd had in her first body with this regeneration, but his sister had still been accessible emotionally to him until they left with the Doctor. Now his pleas and admonishments fell on deaf ears. She didn't ask for advice and he hadn't been able to even engage her in debate since he convinced her to ask the Doctor to let Harkness come. She'd promised him then that she would talk to the Doctor and he'd believed her. He had been quite relieved at that, actually. He was so tired of the three of them being alone in all this.

After they had awoken from their encounter with the Untempered Schism, their lives had never been easy or carefree. Mum had been terrified when she beheld her altered sons and daughter, and their dad was dead. Mum couldn't read the symbols at all, and his and Torin's grip on Gallifreyan was tenuous at best. Selene, of course, had taken to the language a bit better but was no master and couldn't read everywhere so they'd spent countless days mapping the markings all on paper. They were incredibly difficult to decipher. The tiniest golden dot or line could make a word something else entirely.

As far as they could tell, they were words of binding. And yet they weren't. When you arranged and read them another way, they were words of death. Rearranged again, they were of life. Where he and Torin had joined hands with Selene they each bore marks on their forearms. These were identical and more easily translated. They read: _I am the Bad Wolf. I create Myself._

Mum had been beside herself and Selene almost stopped letting her read the translations.

But the only one who could actually make sense of it all was the Doctor. And she'd promised. And she didn't. And she wouldn't talk about it. She just kept saying 'soon' and shutting him down. It was making him feel desperate. His only sister's life might depend on letting the man she had so obstinately decided to dislike help them. More than that! They could change the fate of an entire planet - and they would try no matter the cost, he knew - and he needed her to stop being so determined to do it alone!

Torin had no such feelings, however. He trusted the Alpha's judgement implicitly - she had never given him reason not to do - and if she thought the time was wrong, it was. The Doctor was a good man, and he certainly liked and trusted him already - why wouldn't he? - but she was never wrong about these things. Her time sense was strongest, and she knew these things intuitively.

Torin was also a firm believer in creating destiny. His sister would win and they would keep the power bound like they had seen when they looked into the Schism, and that was it. They had seen other outcomes, and the resulting consequences to all of existence, but they weren't the strongest time-threads. As long as they fought for the right outcome, they would have it. He wouldn't let it happen any other way. It really didn't occur to him that she may be letting emotions cloud her judgement, and every time Lios argued with him that they should go to the Doctor without her, he dismissed it.

"Aha!" he cried and pulled out a veiny, yellow borble root with the same chemical balance of ginger root. He immediately began gnawing on it and felt the toxins massing together in his gut. He gave a great belch and expelled them successfully. "Blimey, that's better! I can properly talk again! A proper copper coffee pot. The sixth sitting sheet slitter slit six sheets. Irish Wristwatch, Swiss Wristwatch. Pad kid poured curd pulled cold. Peggy Babcock."

"What? You're daft. You haven't metabolised or you've gone nutter."

"Tongue twisters!"

"_Peggy Babcock?_"

"Shut up! It's hard to say!"

"It isn't!"

"You're wasting time. Shouldn't we be looking for your bird?"

"Oi! She isn't my bird! And don't call her that! She's not some scrubber that I met down at the pub!"

Torin rolled his eyes and pushed past Lios into the corridor. "Isolate her timeline, would you? I don't fancy going room to room."

Lios regarded his brother with surprise. "Yeah, why didn't I think of that?"

"'Cos you're an idiot."

"Yeah, but… oh, never mind!" He closed his eyes and focused on the signature he had noted when he first met Clytie…. She was here! On this level in a room with twelve - no, thirteen others - that last was flickering in and out a bit, which was weird to be honest, but he let it go. He did still have a massive headache after all. "I know where she is." He pointed to their left and they set off. "Wait a tick! They're on the move!"

The mass of timelines had left whatever room they were in and were moving their direction.

Right, they should hide. He shared what he had picked up with his brother and they ducked through a nearby door.

After a few minutes a large group of the golden women seemed to float gracefully past, and Clytie led their number. Lios didn't know what to make of it. He felt as if someone had hit him in the gut - although that analogy was lacking because he had a respiratory bypass and a blow to the abdomen would be painful, but wouldn't wind him, and he was definitely experiencing a distinct lack of oxygen.

Torin touched his arm and sent him a wave of concern.

_That's her in front_, he sent back.

Torin didn't respond. He just let his jaw hang open and stared at the girl in the centre of the group. A girl wearing creamy white silks, with cropped, black hair, and pale, ivory skin covered in gold Circular Gallifreyan trailing up her arms to her neck and all across her chest.

Lios was still staring at Clytie as the women continued to move away from them when Torin kicked him. He tore his eyes away from the beautiful girl that didn't seem to be a prisoner in this place where he'd been held captive and glared at his brother.

Torin ignored the blond man's wrath and pointed at the Alpha. Lios made a choked sound and blanched.

_Your bird seems to be in charge._

Lios heaved a sigh, and his face went stony. Well, he'd give her a chance to defend herself, but this really didn't look good, did it?

Torin touched his shoulder gently in consolation but he was careful not to put pressure on the sores that had soaked the tattered rectangle Lios was wearing with drying blood. _Alpha_, he reminded.

_Lets go_, was all Lios managed and they slipped back out and silently stole after them.

* * *

><p>The Doctor poked his head up every so often to covertly check their location, and it only took them an hour and twenty-three minutes to reach the city's centre.<p>

Jack gave him a leg up through the grating after offering to support his bum instead and being refused. The Doctor then heaved Jack up by the arms and they began looking for the right, well, set of ruins, to be honest. Nothing was whole anywhere, and the Doctor just hoped they would be able to amass enough working computer parts that he could cobble something together to suit their purposes. He'd have a whole plan after he'd seen what was available. Right at that moment, it was an almost plan. Sort of a start of one. Half a plan was better than no plan. Although, half a plan wasn't technically a plan. Technically, it was still no plan. So, yes, he had no plan. Just an idea. Ideas were good. And he'd worked with less. Not often. Jack didn't need to know that though.

They walked silently, staying close to cover at all times, and keeping a wary ear and eye out for any sign of the Titan. They rounded a corner and were astonished to find the building they were looking for was surprisingly whole. A few columns missing from the front and a couple holes in the roof, but the building itself was sound. They stole their way to it and paused at the heavy bronze doors. They would make one hell of a noise.

"Maybe we should try around back?" Jack whispered.

The Doctor shook his head. Wouldn't be a back entrance on a building like this. Instead, he pulled out his sonic and aimed it at each of the hinges to remove any corrosion and minimise the sound. They heaved at the door on the right and it swung open heavily, reverberating in every direction with the sickening groan of ancient metal.

They hurried inside without closing the door behind them, only to be greeted by the vibrations of many reawakening engines.

The Doctor saw twenty-eight silver multiports flickering to life. The Titans lined the walls on either side of the cavernous main hall.

Well, now they knew why this building hadn't been destroyed, didn't they?

He seized Jack by the arm and, using the few precious moments the Titans needed to reboot, they ran for the stairs leading to the upper level. They were halfway up when the first shots hit. Jack was struck in the right arm and shoulder, leaving him with gaping wounds that went straight through, but the Doctor had dropped fast enough to avoid further injury.

They were using bullets. They didn't want to damage this building. That was good, and it meant there was something here that they'd had a directive not to destroy. It would keep them alive. They used the stone balustrade as meagre cover and crawled on their stomachs to the top.

Jack heaved himself into the nearest corner and tore off strips of cloth from his garment to wrap around his wounds. "Think they can fit through that?" He winced and nodded to the archway they'd just crossed into the marble corridor. It was only three metres high and two wide.

He helped Jack up and began pulling him quickly along. "Doubt it, but we should move farther in in case they start shooting through it."

As if speaking the words had called them to do just such a thing, a giant golden head poked in and it was soon joined by a torso and arm.

"Yes! Crouching! Didn't consider crouching!" He nearly choked out as he and Jack ran into the first room that presented itself. This thankfully had a large bronze door that closed heavily and the Doctor locked it with his sonic. He then bolstered the hardness and density so that the otherwise malleable metal wouldn't give way immediately under pressure. It wouldn't stop them for long, but maybe with the tight squeeze, it would slow them down.

The room was dark, save the light that filtered in from two large, gold framed windows. The glass was thick with debris dust and dirt, choking the rays that might otherwise have lit the room. A single computer mainframe filled the otherwise empty room, and the Doctor immediately went to it and tried to start it. Nothing. Well, they could only be so lucky, couldn't they? He ran around the back and started pulling it apart.

A thunderous boom filled the room. Then three more followed as the Titan outside tried to force its way in.

"Tell me what to do, Doc." He loved that about Jack. Never doubted, never questioned, just did whatever it took to save their skins.

"Come here and help me sort this mess of circuits. We have to get power going again. I don't know if I'll be able to access whatever is controlling those machines, but I just might be able to hack into it if I'm very clever." He yanked at the hair that had fallen into his eyes and went back to sonicing the exposed motherboard.

"How much time do you think we have before it gets in?"

"Not enough."

The sound of creaking metal assaulted their ears as the Titan began trying to pry the door from its frame.

* * *

><p>They washed every inch of her, hands everywhere and they didn't allow her to just get on with it herself. It was more than a little humiliating for someone as private and secretive as the Alpha, but they seemed to think they were being quite reverent and hospitable. Then they anointed her with several fragrant oils and dabbed gold dust at each her temples and the centre of her forehead. The silks were draped on her with meticulous artistry and fastened with brooches of pink enamelled roses that had been gilded at the edges. When they started faffing with the glittering gold sashes and plaiting strands of her hair with gold ribbon, she protested that she'd had quite enough, <em>thank you<em>, it was time to be _getting on with it_. When they ignored her, she started ripping off the ornamentation and throwing it to the floor. They didn't ignore that and looked quite put out, actually.

Well, she didn't honestly expect to be making any friends, so what did it matter?

She was led down a few marble corridors lined with intricately woven rugs and murals on every wall. When they reached a heavy wooden door that bore carvings of roses surrounding a howling wolf, they stopped and waited a moment. The red-haired one, Clytie must have silently been given permission to enter because she smiled sweetly and pushed the door open.

Inside seemed to be an audience chamber. It had a few posh chairs and settees upholstered in white brocade with dark rosewood accents. Gold seemed to be something of an obsession here. This room was no exception. It was abundant on surfaces and the cloth at the windows and the moulding on the walls.

In the centre of the room stood a woman with black hair that had been artfully swept into a chignon woven with jewel encrusted ribbons. Her gown was gold with red sashes that seemed to glitter with millions of tiny rubies. She was regal, even for one of this race, imposing really, and her beauty was bordering predatory, like a carnivorous flower. Her countenance bore no warmth, and when she smiled, it never reached her icy grey-blue eyes. No, this woman was cold to the core, the Alpha could sense it. She could also sense an undercurrent of madness that seemed to permeate the room despite the massive efforts to hide it. It made her skin crawl.

"Leave us," the new woman commanded, and the Alpha's entourage melted out of the room. "Welcome, Alpha Wolf. We have long awaited your arrival."

"So, I've been told. Seems like you know a lot 'bout me, so how 'bout you fill me in a bit on you lot. I'd say start with who you are and finish with wha' the bleedin' hell you want from me. That'd be grand. Ta."

She puffed herself up with wounded dignity. "You are in a very poor position to be making demands of the High Lady of this world."

"That'd make more of an impact if I knew wha' a 'High Lady' was, I'm sure. I'm sure you're _very_ impressive, but a bit gets lost in translation."

"I am High Lady Hera, Protector and Empress of Olympia."

Ah. Mad woman that killed her people. Fantastic. "Not dead then? Tha's a bit surprising, which _is_ impressive, to be honest. I'd've thought after killing a load of people, the rest might get a bit fed up an' do somethin' about it. Wha' is it then? They drink an' you control their hive-mind when they tap the single consciousness? I _knew_ somethin' dodgy was goin' on when I saw tha'."

The madness Selene had sensed earlier reared its head as the queen's face contorted with barely contained rage. "I will not dishonour myself by giving that statement the dignity of a response."

"Which _is_ responding, so you might as well get on with it… An' I'm tellin' you right now tha' I'll have no part in it, all tha' boozin' an' brain-cavortin'." She wondered how far she could push. How much did they need her? And what for?

"You cannot escape your destiny, Alpha Wolf. You are instrumental to the fate of this realm!" The woman stamped her food like a toddler denied a sweet. It almost made the Alpha laugh. Almost.

"Look, maybe you're not a nutter, an' jus' got a bad wrap in the history books, but until I know wha' you're about, I'm not goin' to help you do anythin'." She no longer doubted the monarch's insanity, and that her people needed to be shut of her, but it would help to know what she intended.

"That would be very unfortunate for the Lesser Wolves. They are unclean and will be disposed of if you refuse and are of no use."

The Alpha glared and actually snarled, baring her teeth as she spat, "You touch one hair on either of my brothers an' I will personally see tha' you quickly find your end as nothin' but bits of gold dust."

"Such hostility, I am simply requesting your assistance in restoring peace and order to a land that the Lords of Time abandoned! As a Lady of Time, is it not your responsibility to undertake?" Her tone had gone from steel to cloying in a heartsbeat. It made Selene want to vomit.

"Don' _ever_ threaten my family."

"So long as we reach an understanding, we will have no need for violent disagreement, hm? You will see justice done, will you not?"

"Always." Her unspoken promise with the word was lost on the woman with eyes like a foggy London morning sky.

"As I have said, your coming has been foretold by the Fates, and you will be instrumental in completing my great purpose! This world will know peace and purity again!" The reverence in her voice was chilling.

"Peace an' purity? Wha's wrong with it now?" Was mass murder and gender segregation no longer enough?

"The inner cities were rife with it. Chaos, sickness, filth! Males and females coupling without regard for consequence or pride. They were faithless, _every one_. Even the Lord of Time that made so many empty promises! Faithless! Filth! But _I_ resolved the issue and purged the darkness. Do you not see how well my Ladies conduct themselves? The remaining outer settlements must be cleansed as well. You will help me return the glory to this realm!"

"How am I meant to accomplish this exactly?"

"You _will_ re-call the Wolf Goddess and she will remove the barriers she erected around the Capitol Cities. When the purge has been completed we _will_ re-claim our seat of power therein." Ah she wanted Bad Wolf. Too bad for her then. She couldn't access Mum even if she tried, at the moment.

Utterly mental. She had to get out. She had to get out and find the Doctor and her brothers. Enough was enough of the reconnaissance. "Great. Yeah, stellar plan. I jus' need to use your loo then, an' we'll get crackin', yeah?"

"What is this 'loo' of which you speak?"

"Oh, you know, jus' - er…"

She never finished the thought. The door behind her opened revealing two unconscious women on the ground, one being Nymph Clytie, and a grinning man in a grey, tattered toga, with long, curly, brown hair and a maniacal grin. He was silent, which was unusual for Torin, he just held out his hand.

The mad queen started shrieking for guards, and the Alpha launched herself at her brother. They embraced for a half a moment before running for their lives.


	16. The Ruins of Olympia: Part 2

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who.**

**This total monster of a chapter nearly ate my brains. I know I said I'd finish on Olympia this chapter, but I have to break it into one last chunk because, good lord, I'm knackered. This one was a rollercoaster. So, it'll be over with soon, and we'll be on to other exciting developments.  
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**The flying sequences were written to Seven Lions _Tyven _which, should you be interested, you can hear on youtube.  
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* * *

><p>"Doc, I hate to pressure you, but we could really use some of that Doctor-nick-of-time-magic right now."<p>

The Titan outside the door had pulled one corner of the heavy bronze barrier away from the door frame. It would be a matter of minutes before it was rid of it and them.

"Two ticks." He aimed the sonic in a couple more places and was rewarded with the sound of booting circuitry. He jumped to his feet and ran around to the monitor. Fingers flying furiously across the keyboard, he searched for any access paths to the Titan link.

The corner of the metal door that had been freed was now peeled back enough that they could see into the corridor beyond and gold fingers were peeking through every few seconds, scraping for more purchase. It wouldn't be long before the entire hand fit, and the firing began again.

Jack scrambled about the room looking for anything he could use against the giant weapon. He seized a mouldering chair which fell apart as soon as he lifted it from its ancient resting place. Well, it had been a desperate gamble anyway.

He ran to the window and pulled down the threadbare curtains, rod and all. Then divested the heavy pole of its cloth coverings. He ran with it to the door and beat at the fingers every time they appeared. It probably would have been more effective if the thing outside were alive and could feel pain, but at least he was slowing the progress of the machine pulling at the weak point.

"It's not good." The Doctor was frowning at the monitor and yanking at his hair. "They aren't linked into anything in the city computers. The only thing I've found is that there's a power source in Zeus Olympus."

"So, were screwed?"

"We'll get out of this Jack."

He kept typing furiously and looking for an escape route from their prison. It didn't seem like there was any way out of the room save the door that was under assault. No vent shafts, no attic access, nothing. Nothing but the windows and a twenty metre drop to the ground.

He began calculating the likelihood of survival and what types of injuries he'd sustain if they dropped, not that Harkness couldn't come back from such a thing, but his own mortality was a very real obstacle now that he no longer had a regeneration to spare. But, no matter what happened to him, he had to get Jack back to Cardiff and the Tylers to safety. He wasn't done for yet. No. He was determined. And a determined Doctor was a very formidable thing.

He abandoned the console, and began fiddling with the sonic. He then aimed it at the fingers Jack was jousting, and watched as they lost their shape and moulded into a solid mass of gold just inside the hole. The Titan tried to withdraw and found the appendage stuck.

Jack let out a yell that was somewhere between a laugh and a victory cry but it was cut short when the robot ripped the damaged arm back through the small opening leaving a gaping wound in the wall that would give it more access than before.

"Well, that didn't work quite as I planned."

"Ya think?!"

The silver multiport of the Titan's face appeared in the hole tauntingly before the arm that wasn't a solid mass slowly reached in and began prying.

"We're going to have to jump, Jack."

"I was afraid you were going to say that. At least the gunshot wounds will be gone when I come back again. What about you? Superior biology gonna save your skin or are you in for another regeneration?"

"No, I don't have one left," he said as nonchalantly as possible and pulled the immortal man with him to the large grime-caked windows.

"What, you've got a limit on them?"

"Yes."

"And this is the last?! What the hell, Doc?! What are we gonna do?"

"We're going to cross our fingers, Harkness."

"No we're not. You're going to jump out on my back and I'll break your fall. I have nothing to worry about, you -"

The silence that suddenly filled the room was frightening and cut Jack off mid-thought.

The Titan had stopped peeling back the bronze, and there was no sign of the vibrating engines.

"What the hell?" Jack frowned.

"I don't know. Maybe it has speech processors and figured out we were going to jump?"

"Should we… sneak out that way then?" he pointed at the mangled door and knitted his brows.

"Give it a minute, let's make sure they've actually moved off before we run out like clods."

* * *

><p>"Oh, my clever boys! I'm so happy to see you! Wait, no! I'm cross with you! You two're complete idiots! Wha' the hell were you thinkin' comin' here? <em>This<em> is wha' happens when no one listens to me! An' _wha_' happened to you Omega, eh? You look like someone whipped you while you were lyin' about!" the Alpha whispered furiously. They were crouching in a closet and waiting for a large group of women to pass. They'd soniced the handle, and though it had been jiggled a few times, no one had tried to force her way in - yet.

"Rope burns…" Lios mumbled as his sister fussed over the wounds with the sonic. He was grateful, it eased the pain a bit.

"Right. Well, we need to get into the inner cities. Tha's where we'll find the Doctor, an' I said I'd be comin' in after him. Who knows wha' it's like there. I'm guessin' not good." She yanked at a few of the garments surrounding them. She roughly pulled on a heavy, grey-velvet, sleeved cloak that would cover her entirely, and fastened it at her neck and chest. She threw two more at Lios and Torin and rolled her eyes at the indignant face Torin pulled. "It's temporary! An' better than wha' you got on! Wha' the hell're you wearing, eh?"

Torin huffed but put the ladies cloak on without further complaint.

They all pulled up the hoods and prepared to stroll right out into the thick of the confusion.

The Alpha aimed the sonic at the door handle then stowed it back in her bodice, Torin didn't have pockets after all. She opened the door and the three siblings strolled out leisurely, pretending like they belonged exactly where they had been and had every right to go exactly where they were going. That nearly always worked.

But not for long this time.

They had made it into the main devotion hall where sat the altar housing the enormous golden wolf. It was going well enough when they neared the front entrance and Selene was bumped. As she blocked the telepathic nudge at her shields, the alarm went up.

They joined hands and sprinted out the doors, shoving with free limbs and bodily at the Olympians who tried to block them. They didn't stop as they reached the street though they had little clue where they were going.

_TARDIS?_ Torin asked both of them and pulled slightly at his sister's hand to indicate the direction of the timeship.

_No, I don't have Mum's key._ She blushed at her stupidity in forgetting it, although those women that bathed her would have taken it off her anyway. _We need to get to a cruiser or a teleport. Cruiser is better, but I have no idea where to look._

_I do._ Lios told them. _Saw it in Clytie's head when we put her out._ His face betrayed the inner turmoil he felt at invading the girl he'd so fancied's mind. He knit his brows and couldn't help projecting his feelings a bit to his siblings.

_Brilliant!_ Torin grinned.

But the Alpha locked eyes with her youngest brother questioningly. He blushed and looked away.

_Oh, sod it all, the Doctor was right!_ _You were chatting up that ginger, weren't you? Tha's how she knew about me. You let your guard down!_

_I'm so, so sorry, Alpha_. Lios looked thoroughly ashamed and contrite.

Her anger left her all at once and she tightened her fingers around his. _Gormless git, I can't stay mad at you, can I? She was ruddy gorgeous, an' I get it, alright? Get us to the yard then._

The Olympians were fast. They kept the triplets running as fast as their legs would carry them unlike most other species they'd had the pleasure of running from, and they were dead accurate when they threw things. Twice they were almost swallowed by golden nets, only ducking in the nick of time when the Alpha heard the faint but tell-tale swish milliseconds before disaster. Still, the hesitation allowed a few to catch up and they had to fight them off both physically and telepathically while maintaining top speeds.

They had managed only the slightest lead on the mob when they reached the all but abandoned shipyard. Selene soniced the lock on the chains and Torin and Lios wrenched the heavy bronze gate doors open with brute force. They ran in quickly, the men slamming the gates shut and throwing their bodies against them while their sister reconnected the chains and locked them again. They ran farther in as the throng reached the tall bronze barrier and finally allowed themselves a moment to stop.

They exchanged bewildered looks that quickly turned into dazzling grins. This morphed into fits of wild laughter and they launched themselves into each others' arms.

"YOU STUPID!"

"UTTER MADNESS!"

"WICKED, YEAH?!"

"I NEVER -"

"CAN'T EVEN -"

"BLIMEY!"

"OI! SHUT UP!" The Alpha's laughter was cut short as she grabbed both men and hurled them to the ground and a gold net sailed over their heads. "Right. Time to move!"

They got to their feet and ran into the hangar. Inside were rows of sleek golden and silver ships shaped like arrowheads with a clear cockpit at the very nose of the ship. They were all in various states of disrepair. Apparently, travel of this sort hadn't been used in quite some time. The Doctor had said that all teleports went directly to the nearest inner city, and women weren't allowed. Selene wondered if they did any travelling outside their home areas at all. All of it was disheartening. These women the triplets were fleeing were unwitting captives being used by a madwoman, and as a result, they really hadn't the time to rebuild any of the ships that could help save them all.

A spark lit in them, some intangible agreement of determination, and they were off. Each running between the rows to examine each craft for their best options. Their bond made it such that they shared what they learned as they searched, and they had an exact layout of the hangar in three minutes and sixteen seconds. The ship three in from the exit was most complete. It would take twenty-five minutes and thirty-eight seconds to put back together. They worked in a seemingly choreographed dance as the Beta wielded the sonic, reconnecting systems, soldering wires and attaching parts, while the Alpha and Omega cannibalised the other spacecraft and brought him everything he needed.

They heard a loud crash in the yard and stopped to listen for a tick. The mob was trying to batter down the gates.

_Fantastic. Move!_ The Alpha snapped them out if it.

They all poured on the speed. They still had eight minutes and eleven seconds of repairs to complete, and they would need another six to calibrate once inside. It would be so, so close.

_Never going to get it in time. It's impossible._ The Beta despaired.

_Impossible doesn't exist in our family. Do it._ The Omega responded immediately.

Torin's features hardened into cold determination and his fingers flew like they were possessed by lightning sprites.

Another crash outside, followed by crunching metal, and shouting.

All three were now frantically wielding spanners and connecting parts. They were finishing the last set of wires and closing the hull as the last crash and crunch of metal resounded, and the Olympian mob came pouring in.

The three threw themselves through the hatch and sealed the airlocks.

The Alpha launched herself into the cockpit and began flipping switches experimentally. The console was behind the captain's chair and facing the wrong direction for flight control with a view of where you were flying. It was strange but she assumed it was a craft that required two people to operate. Thank God she had Torin.

"Can you fly it?" Lios asked her.

"'Course, dead clever, me. I jus' need time, an' tha's somethin' we're a _bit_ skint on, yeah?" she answered testily.

Torin was already under the console calibrating and trying to bring up the nav-systems. At least if they could get the terrestrial maps they could set an auto pilot while Selene acclimated to the Olympian control systems.

The Alpha stopped touching the control panel, and smacked herself on the forehead. She immediately reached for a spindly golden headset and put it on.

"Actually, I'm utterly thick," she said with a grin as she climbed into the captain's chair near the window. Many golden hands pounded on the glass. "_Telepaths._ The controls are telepathic!"

The engines roared to life as she gave them the command, and the Olympian woman went scattering.

Lios clung to the console as they hovered and rocked back and forth while she got her bearings. He hated being in any craft with his sister at the wheel.

Torin, however, had a lunatic grin on his face. For him, this would be more fun than he'd had in years.

His brother's expression made Lios's stomach clench. Oh, they were in for it.

Neither man could see the face their sister wore as she gently eased them out of the hangar, and perhaps that was best in the case of the Omega. If he had seen the look of unadulterated ecstasy on her, he may have demanded to be thrown back to the mob.

She commanded the nav-systems to chart a course for the nearest capitol city, and they were slicing through the open sky like a golden arrow.

She didn't care about anything in that moment.

She was flying again.

* * *

><p>"Right. They've gone."<p>

"Not complaining, but why?"

"Either they're coming around to shoot us through the windows, or they found something else to kill."

The walls around them shook as a sonic boom crashed through the air shattering the windows behind them. They ducked and covered their heads as another, then another resounded through the city, followed by the unmistakeable sound of large flying objects impacting the ground. The building shook with the force of the explosion.

The Doctor used his sonic to free the mangled door from it's precarious position and it fell with a loud clang. They stepped over it and into the empty corridor. Another sonic boom dislodged marble dust from the ceiling and it rained down on top of them.

The lower hall was empty, not a single Titan remained. They hurried to the large front doors, which were standing open, as another distinct crashing sound and following explosion shook the building again.

Outside was a small fighter ship ducking in and out of the ruins at unbelievable speeds as the remaining thirteen Death Engines gave chase. It was an incredible sight. Whoever the pilot was, he was bloody brilliant. More than half of the deadly machines lay in burning masses littered throughout the city, some appearing to have collided with each other, others seemed to have been vaporised when they impacted the earth.

The noise was deafening. It assaulted their ears and vibrated their bodies mercilessly. The air was thick with the smells of burning things and dust. But neither could do anything more than stand rooted, following the suicidal manoeuvring of the ship weaving its way through the ruins.

The pilot made a hairpin turn around a crumbling temple and one more Titan slammed into the marble, sending a mushroom cloud of blue fire and black smoke billowing into the sky. Another turn saw the fighter ship flying toward them fast enough to send them both sprawling on their backs.

As it passed overhead, the Doctor felt an unfamiliar nudge in his mind.

_Keepin' out of trouble then, Bow-tie?_

For a moment he was too stunned and disoriented to comprehend what he was receiving. He tugged at his tie and his eyes went wide. He opened his mind to her.

_You beautiful little terror! What took you so long? I was afraid you'd actually listened and gone back to the TARDIS!_

_Bit of trouble then?_

_A smidgen._

_Had to ditch a mob an' nick a ride. Kid's stuff._

The ship was flying almost straight up into the sky and turning barrel roll after barrel roll to avoid the line of fire. She wasn't even attempting to engage them with her own weapons, merely letting them smash themselves to bits in their attempts to destroy her. Suddenly she plunged into a dive and began rolling and swerving again. Jack nearly jumped into the Doctor's lap when she came within metres of hitting the earth before she pulled up, and continued racing through the city dangerously close to the ground. Four Titans were destroyed with the dive and another skimmed too close to the ground, hit a marble column lying on its side, and slammed into a structure which collapsed on top of it. It blew up shortly after, sending chucks of stone flying in every direction.

_You're giving Jack a heart attack._

_He'll live._

A close call just then! A loose column fell as the vibrations of their engines neared, and it came perilously close to ripping off her port side wing, missing by only 1.654 seconds. The split second of hesitation had allowed one of the Titans to get too close, and there was nothing he could do.

_You're giving me two._

_Oi! Drivin' here._

_Watch your starboard!_

_I see 'em, old man. Keep your knickers clean._

_Starboard, Alpha! **Starboard! STARBOARD!**_

A Titan had flanked her on the right and had her locked in its sights. Soon it was joined by another and a third came up on her port side. She had slowed. So minutely that, had he not the superior sight that he did, he'd never have noticed, but it was enough to allow the machines to manoeuvre into a deadly position by her wings. This was so very not good! Was she running out of fuel? Was something malfunctioning in the engine? His hearts felt like they were trying to escape his chest.

_Are you alright? Alpha! What are you doing? What's going on? Are you ok? Selene Tyler! They're all around you!_

_Shut up a minute._

Three sets of laser fired simultaneously and the Doctor and Jack's screams were lost in the deafening cacophony surrounding them, but the ship pulled into vertical ascension, and with an incredible burst of speed, dodged the laser fire. The Titans hit each other instead and the mid-air explosion destroyed another two, leaving only two of the originally nearly thirty killing machines. This frankly incredible and impossible little nightmare girl had done that, and he'd never felt so fond of her.

_Last two, be careful._

_Kinda busy, yeah?_

_Oi! You sent to me first! Blimey. You're actually allowing -_

_Be sickenin' later._

Maybe fond wasn't the right word.

She rolled and swerved for another few minutes, the remaining stubborn machines giving her several close calls with their laser fire, before they finally collided when she dipped low to the ground again. As they tangled together, they slammed into a ruin only half a kilometre from where Jack and the Doctor watched, gobs hanging open. Debris rained all around them and they coughed and sputtered as the noxious fumes and smoke filled the area.

_Burned out courtyard two and a half kilometres south._ She sent as she flew over their heads and sought a place to land.

The Doctor grabbed the Captain's arm and they ran in the direction she'd flown.

"Doc, who the hell was that? Are there men left after all? Were those the women that sent us here? What the hell is going on?" Jack shouted above the din of burning and crumbling rock. His ears felt like they had flannel stuffed into them.

He laughed, "No, Harkness. That was our dear little Alpha. She and I were _chatting_! We _talked,_ Jack!" His grin couldn't get wider. He ran faster, leaving Jack behind a bit with a horrified and stunned look on his face.

When he burst into the yard where she had landed, he saw all three Tylers and felt like he could do cartwheels. They were the cleverest Time Tots in the universe, they were. Well, not really tots, no. Still, tots by comparison. Terribly cocky, idiotically fearless, hopelessly reckless, utterly brilliant tots.

The Alpha was practically bouncing in place with a giant grin, of which he would never before have believed her capable. Torin was flushed and squirming with pent up adrenaline and supporting Lios by the shoulders, while the youngest brother was being violently sick into some bushes. He ran toward the three, shouting with joy.

"I've never been so happy to see your scowling face, Selene Tyler! You, _reckless_ girl, are magnificent!"

"Careful, Doctor. You might slip an' say somethin' nice you'll end up regrettin'."

"Where did you ever learn to fly like that? And how? You've never been in an Olympian Fighter before, have you?"

"Anyone can fly anythin' once they know how it works." She rolled her eyes then grinned maniacally, unable to sustain the snark. "We had a couple short range cruisers on our ship. Dad took us out all the time. Never stopped bein' fun for me, even after he was gone. Used to play a game we called 'Dodge-me an' Seeker' with Torin in asteroid fields. It was like hide an' seek, only with massive moving rocks an' mortal danger. Bloody loved it! Lios'd distract Mum 'cos he gets all ropey, an' we'd go. Nearly skinned us alive the few times she found out, though." She laughed and spun in a circle on one foot, landing with a flourish of her arms.

"I never caught her even once. Best pilot in the universe, my sister. I'm brilliant at it too, of course, but this one is ridiculous." Torin beamed with pride as he pushed her shoulder and looked at the plumes of black smoke from the burning wreckages of the Titans.

"Well, it was worth the skinning! Incredible! What're we doing standing about? Where's Harkness?"

Jack had finally just caught up, crashed himself into the Alpha, swept her off her feet in a bear hug and swung her around. "Selene! You're totally insane! Do you understand how terrifying what you just did was? And I didn't even know it was you! You're amazing! Don't ever do that again! What's wrong with the Lios?"

The Omega had stopped being sick in the bush and sat down with his head between his legs. He'd taken off a heavy grey cloak and cast it aside as he had cold sweats. He was looking battered in every way, from the ordeal he'd just survived and crusted wounds running in parallel lines across his arms and torso. He lifted his head slightly at the mention of his name, then let it drop again.

"Never could stomach rough piloting. He'll be fine in a mo'," Torin sniggered.

"_Rough?_" the younger brother choked into his knees, "If that was rough, then what would you call _utterly shattering?_"

The curly haired brother just shook his head with mock disgust and turned his attention to the eldest Time Lord. "What next, Doctor?"

"Now, we go to Zeus Olympus, the city at the base of the mountain and have a poke about! See if we can shut the rest of the Titans down remotely. Alpha, can you manage a repeat performance should we need it?"

"I was born for this, old man," she retorted with a smug grin, then bounced on her heels. She was still on an adrenaline high, and felt like she could take on anything in that moment.

"Excellent! More maniacal machinery to mince then!" he exclaimed then caught the horrified expression the blond man was wearing. Whether it was the idea of enduring that kind of flight again, or the danger to his sister, the Doctor couldn't tell, but he knew Lios was not happy about it. "Though, maybe I ought to do the flying and you lot handle the mainframe."

"Never happenin'. You'd be flattened in seconds." Lios shot her an angry look, and she rolled her eyes. "Jus' take these gits an' I'll handle the Titans."

"I am a rather brilliant pilot, you know. Technically, taught you everything you know." He ran a hand through his fringe and Torin caught his eye with a megawatt smile.

"Oh, fiver says I could make mince of you _and_ the maniacal machinery, Bow-tie and Braces."

"Oi! Leather and Eyebrows - though you are distinctly less leathery right now, aren't you? What is that? _A cloak_? _You_ usually wear braces and bow-ties are cool. Make it ten in the next asteroid field."

She tugged at the neck of the garment concealing her exposed body. "You're on, pensioner. I wear braces to hold up my trousers, not 'cos they make me look cool. I _am_ cool."

"Oh, Tyler, just you wait. Prepare to learn a thing or twelve. Might want to take notes, actually."

"Will you two shut up already? Blimey, I think I liked it better when you didn't get on!" Lios was still a bit green from his sister's flying, and quite cranky.

"Oi! Don't get shirty! Don't worry, Doctor. I'll still hate you after I've taken your ten quid, no matter wha' my git brother thinks."

"Shut up, no you won't."

"Oi! Shut it! Selene, I'm never getting back in that ship with you flying, let the Doctor get us to the city. He knows where it is."

* * *

><p>The Doctor set the ship down a few kilometres outside the city walls. It too was in a state of total devastation and ruin. He had no doubt they would come upon Titans, he just hoped they could sneak in without alerting any of their presence. If the Alpha didn't have to risk her life, so much the better. She had agreed grudgingly to stay grounded until she got an alert from one of them that they needed a distraction, but she seemed to be itching for another go.<p>

Jack stayed behind with her and the three male Time Lords skulked into the once proud High Capitol City of Zeus Olympus.

The air in the place felt wrong and thick with some unknowable evil. Perhaps it was their own fear and anxiety warning them that danger was imminent, but the Doctor doubted it. To him it felt more as if something was radiating disease and madness into the atmosphere, like a cancerous heart pumping befouled blood into the very fabric of existence, and they were headed straight for it. It didn't bode well.

As he always found himself doing in uncomfortable situations, the Doctor covered his ill ease with chatter.

_So, what happened to you boys then? I turned around and you were gone, and your sister nearly murdered me for it, you know. When she didn't, I thought something was wrong with her and checked to see if she'd been having a bit of the Ambrosia. Hadn't thankfully, but what happened?_

_Ate a bunch of the fruit. You didn't say about that. Only the drink. _ Lios responded, remembering how he found Torin and grinning, then remembering that Clytie had duped him, and became sombre again.

_Right. Should have mentioned, yes, but they don't usually allow anyone to eat enough of it to make a difference. Sorry, chaps._

_I nicked four before they knew what I was doing, then this old bird and her mates nabbed me. Kept trying to poke about in my head but I wouldn't let them. They gave me a few more to eat hoping I'd pass out but I never did. The last time they tried, one came alone and I caught her off guard by screaming in her head, then told her to sleep. Worked like a charm. Then I found this git tied up in the room next to mine. We found the Alpha while we were in the scullery trying to clear the toxins. Bunch of the nutters were hauling her off to see their leader. Lady Hera was what the Alpha called her. The leader, I mean, not the nutters, although, I gather she's a nutter too. The queen. The queen is also a nutter. They're all nutters.  
><em>

Lios sent a wave of gratitude to his brother for not embarrassing him or mentioning that he'd had his mind invaded. He was still in a bit of pain from it, and thoroughly ashamed that he'd let a pretty face undo his sense.

_Wait a tick_, Lios sent and then shared the memory of Clytie's words by the river about the history of her people. _But that can't be entirely true can it? We know the queen isn't dead, and we know the Titans weren't destroyed. She seemed so honest at the time…_

The Doctor smiled gently at the young man. _She likely was being honest. In that moment, she shared with you what she believed, and likely all of them believe when they aren't being influenced. Your sister mentioned their devotions were mass communing of consciousness. I doubt that girl is aware of what she's doing half the time._

Lios nodded sadly, then got a determined look in his eye. The Doctor was right. None of those women were necessarily evil or insidious. They weren't in control, and that needed to be remedied.

_Why does it feel like we're walking into hell? _ Torin shuddered.

_Maybe we are. _ The Doctor picked up his pace as they approached the centre of the city.

Again, the only building left intact was the main municipal pantheon, though, this one was three times as large as the one he'd been trapped in before, and jutted out from the very mountain itself. The wrongness poured fourth, and was definitely emanating from somewhere within the summit.

They skulked around the broken stone walls until they were half a kilometre from the crumbling marble stairs. The older Time Lord knew there would be Death Engines waiting for them inside. He took in the massive doors that barred them from making a stealthy entrance. There were no holes in the sides of the building to creep through, and nothing to do but take the plunge and rely on the cleverness of their girl and Jack. He called to her and waited a few minutes until he heard the engines of the fighter approaching.

The Doctor turned to the boys and grinned.

_Geronimo!_

He took off at a run up the steps and wrenched open the doors with all his might. They groaned and moved laboriously, sending showers of dirt and corrosion raining down upon them.

They were immediately greeted by the sounds of Titans coming to life. The Doctor didn't hesitate, he pulled the doors open fully, then grabbed the two lads that were looking at the deadly machines with awe and horror, and yanked them with him around the side of the building.

The Titans poured out into the air. There were so many more than had been in Apollo Zephyrus. At least thirty had already emerged and were already in fast pursuit of the Alpha, and more still were coming. In the end no less than fifty-five Titans were hell-bent on annihilating the Olympian ship that was moving almost too fast to follow with the naked eye.

"Blimey, that's terrifying to watch, isn't it? Brilliant. But properly scary." Torin gaped.

Lios blanched and nodded his head, unable to tear his eyes from the danger his sister had so excitedly thrown herself into.

"Come on, Tylers. Let's do our bit," the Doctor reminded. He wanted to shut them down as soon as possible. He didn't like that she was facing almost double what she had before.

They ran into the hall and split up, checking every room and searching for the mainframe.

Torin came upon it first up two flights of stairs. "OI!" he called as they heard an enormous boom from outside and the sounds of burning. The two other men ran in and the Doctor immediately began dismantling the circuit board. Between the three of them, with their amassed genius and one sonic device of many brilliant uses, they had it running again in five minutes and six seconds.

The Doctor set to cracking the database while the brothers watched with baited breath. Every management system for this city and all the others became available to him in seconds, but nothing indicating a link to whatever controlled the Titans. He slammed a fist against the console and uttered a filthy curse in Gallifreyan. They boys' eyes went wide at the outburst in their shared forgotten tongue, but it was Lios that spoke first.

"I think it's what we're feeling. I don't think they're going to be connected into anything within the controls of the former populace."

The Doctor nodded at the young Time Lord. He was hoping that wouldn't be the case, or that at least he could create a bridge between the two systems, but there was no interface even registering in a scan that could be in any way linked to whatever controlled them. "Nothing for it but to go in and find it then."

The mountain had been excavated to extend the building far into its heart. They wandered through its labyrinth allowing the sickening feeling guide them while it wreaked havoc on their senses. Lios had to stop and retch a few times as they moved closer, and neither of the other men felt any better. It was horrible in every way. Their time senses felt dulled and muddy, and each of them had developed headaches that increased in pressure and pain the closer the got.

It was behind a golden door, whatever it was, and every instinct was telling them to run and never look back.

Torin began retching and heaving into a corner and was soon joined by the already ropey Lios.

The Doctor steeled himself and pushed the door open. Red glow bathed him as he stood in the threshold and took in the barbarity before him. Cold knives felt like they were piercing his hearts and he cried out in agony and outrage at the sight.

"What is that?" Torin had come up behind him and was trying to make sense of it all.

"It's a TARDIS… Or it was a TARDIS once. It's not alive any longer - not really, not in the way that my TARDIS is, thank all that is dear in the universe for that. This one is just a shell with a beating heart now, like a body being kept technically alive on life support after the brain has long since stopped functioning, but it is the heart of the Death Engine."

Torin and Lios were stunned and horrified.

"How… how did they? How could they do this? How_ could_ they… _How?_" Torin was burning with rage as he looked at the glowing red TARDIS core. It so looked like someone had been over zealous with an axe, and ripped out her heart, and shoved wires into it to get it beating again. Living wires trailed onto the floor like severed veins, and gold tubes had been shoved into it in every direction, pumping in whatever was keeping it alive. He punched the stone wall next to him to get some, _any_ of the rage out of his system.

"How could they? Even most Time Lords treated their sentient ships like commodities and soulless machines rather than living beings. Respect for life isn't universal, and often the exception, not the rule."

"But it isn't _right!_ It isn't _fair!_ Who could do this? _It isn't ok!_ They shouldn't get away with this! They can't! _Look_ at her! It's…"

"It's sick," Lios whispered, then tore his eyes away and ran to retch into a corner again.

The Doctor swallowed down the anger and frustration threatening to overwhelm him, and schooled his features into a mask of calm and collectedness. "The kindest thing to do now is put her out of her misery. But we have to be very careful. This mountain houses a rift. Those tubes are funnelling rift energy into the core and keeping it alive. We have to remove them without blowing her up."

Neither man replied, only moved behind him to do whatever he required of them. The Doctor was grateful for both their willingness and their silence. Words hardly felt appropriate just then.

They worked as quickly as the older man dared, and when the final red flicker of life left the mangled core, if more than one cheek was wet, no one mentioned it.

Several simultaneous explosions outside shook the ground. It was done then. They'd permanently disabled the Titans.

No one felt like celebrating.

"We can't leave her here. We should look for the any other pieces of her that might be hidden away. I'll go with your sister and bring the TARDIS, but we can't leave her here. Look what they've already done. Can't risk any more."

The boys just nodded and hurried out of the room to begin their search, and the Doctor felt like his feet were made of lead weights as he dragged himself into the corridor. By the time he was halfway back the way they'd come, he was running. He couldn't spend an extra second inside any longer.

He burst into the daylight to see a grinning pair leaning against the gold and silver ship, waiting. He didn't return their smiles as he strode up to them and they both lost them quickly.

The Alpha knitted her brows and eyed him. "Everythin' alright? Wha' happened?"

"No, everything is not alright. Everything is so far from alright that they're practically in another universe from alright. Jack, go in and help the brothers. Alpha, take me to my TARDIS."

"Yeah, alright. Get in, but you're talkin' to me."

"And who're_ you_ to make that kind of demand of _me?_ When have you willingly given up anything I've asked?"

She looked at him like he'd slapped her, but nodded and shut her mouth, climbing back into the fighter without another word.

He took a minute outside with Jack, who didn't chastise or berate him for his harsh words, only looked at him with tired old eyes in a young face. "It's that bad." It wasn't a question.

"I've never seen anything like it, Jack. It's a mess I have to clean up too. I can't just leave it to anyone else this time."

"See you when you get back, Doc."

They nodded at each other, the Captain heading inside the building, and the Doctor ducking into the ship.

The Alpha was already setting the autopilot coordinates and they took off in short order.

She didn't speak to him for the first sixteen minutes and eighteen seconds. He sat at one end of the cockpit and she the other. Even his mind was completely barred and blocked. Then she broke the silence with a huff.

"I'm assumin' if anythin' happened to my brothers, you'd tell me."

He ignored her.

"I'm also assumin' you want to be left alone to brood, an' I get it, love a good brood, me, but I risked my neck a bit so you lot could do whatever it is you did, an' I think I deserve to know wha' happened, yeah?"

"Little girl, the universe doesn't care about what you think you deserve and neither do I."

"Cheers. Tha's quite enough of tha' then." She stood up and closed the distance between them, then slumped down against the wall next to where he'd puddled himself. She grabbed his hand and started massaging his palm while sending waves of calm and comfort. He tried to pull away, but she tightened her grip and continued. "Dad liked this. Sometimes, after we'd been almost killed, or had narrowly escaped the Shadow Proclamation - did you know 'bout tha'? Torchwood got 'em on us. Said we were fugitives tha' needed to be returned to Earth. Always had us on the run, Torchwood, even a hundred years after we left Earth, we never quite shook 'em. Anyway, sometimes, after a really close call an' his heart was bein' a bit dicky, I'd calm him down like this."

The Doctor didn't know what to say, so he didn't, only relaxed in her grip and allowed her to continue soothing him.

"When he died, I thought my whole world would shatter. Or, I dunno, stop. Felt like it _should _jus' stop. But everythin' jus' kept goin' like it always does, an' I was… so lost… I needed him to… help me… I needed him to tell me wha' to do, an' how to be, oh, lord, I dunno, brave or clever, or right. I needed him to tell me how to be perfect, 'cos he was to me. But he died an' I had to figure it out myself. Couldn't try to be like Mum - 'cos let's be honest, I'm nothin' like Mum, tha's Li, not me - but I could try to be as perfect as my dad. Be as brilliant, an' know everythin', an' exactly wha' to do all the time. Never works though, does it? Tryin' to be perfect. The best. The cleverest an' the most right. 'S like a compulsion now though, innit? Gotta be the one tha' _always_ right. But I'm not. 'S really wha' I was tryin' to say. An' tha' I'm sorry tha'… well, it must've been bad. An' I'll leave you alone now, but I'll listen if you want too. So, yeah… I'm gonna check trajectories an' flight path time estimates. Over there."

The Doctor watched her stand up without looking at him and move to the backwards facing console, mucking about with things that didn't really need adjusting.

"You're a good girl, Selene Tyler."

"No, I'm not. An' I'm not a nice girl either. I'm jus' not heartsless."

He hesitated a moment before wordlessly offering her his memory of the last few hours. She jumped into it without hesitation, and within minutes was slumped against the wall opposite him with her head in her hands.

They didn't move or speak during the remainder of the flight, nor did they speak while Selene landed the craft in the courtyard next to the TARDIS, nor when they entered the very alive timeship. She practically ran to her young one and he to his console where they each lay tender hands on their beloved friends, seeking reassurance and affirmation that they were safe and whole.

"Wha' now then?" Her voice was hoarse and heavy.

"Now we go back and remove any trace of Time Lord technology from this planet."

"But wha' about the one tha' did it? Hera. I can't walk away without doin' somethin' 'bout her."

"No. Little chance of that for either of us, actually. We'll put a damper on her telepathic field and turn her in to the Shadow Proclamation, but I'll be questioning her very thoroughly to try and understand why it all happened."

"Wha' about the people? Wha' happens to them? Shouldn't we be lookin' for survivors in the inner cities?"

"How close did you come to dying today?"

"I'm fine!"

"And how often?" There was no judgement or concern in his voice. He was merely making a point.

"Often enough an' close enough."

"Knowing that, do you think there are any survivors?"

"No."

"Neither do I."

"So you're tellin' me, tha' all the males on this planet've been wiped out?"

"I'm almost certain of it."

"I can't accept tha'."

He sighed and pushed his fringe back. "It's not about what you can accept. It's about what is, Tyler…"

"How the hell'd they even get a hold of it? I mean, who'd do tha'? Was it on purpose? How could a Time Lord _ever_ allow his ship to be gutted like tha'?"

"When I was here last, no Time Lords had ever even set foot here. Diplomatic dealings were strained. There's only one way this could have -"

"Wait. You've been here before?"

"Pretty well-travelled, actually. Not many populated places I haven't."

"So… It was…? Was it you then? Are _you_ the reason there will never be another Olympian born here?"

"Tyler, no… I am a man capable of many things. I've killed… billions… Caused… You can't imagine… But, no. I didn't cause this. I was here at least two centuries prior, before the Time War. And as you see, my TARDIS is very much alive and whole. The Time Lord that caused this could only have been the Master. Once, I'd never have believed it possible, but as you know, I met him again twice. He must have come here after he escaped the timelock."

"So then we go back an' stop him when he gets here. Move it."

"It doesn't work like that."

"'_Course_ it does. Fix this."

"It doesn't! We're in the time stream now! We can't go back! I wish more than anything we could, but we can't! But it's _more_ than that! Use your sense! What do you see?"

"Doesn't matter! _Fix_ this! You're the madman with the blue box tha' _fixes these things!_ _Do it!_"

"What do you see?"

_"What good is all of time an' space if we don't fix this?"_

He grabbed her shoulders roughly and nearly shouted in her face, "What do you see? With your time senses! Stop avoiding it!"

She stared into the Doctor's eyes, pleading silently that he make it not the truth. She dropped her gaze to her feet and whispered, "'S a fixed point. Not here. Not now. Before. 'S rubbish."

"Completely rubbish." His grip softened and before he gave it a second thought, he swept her into a gentle embrace. "I'd give anything to stop them going through all that suffering and death, but the fact that _now_ _isn't_ fixed is the good news, Selene Tyler, Time Lady of Leather and Eyebrows." He kissed her forehead. "Even if we can't ever give them back what they've lost, we can give them a future."

She furrowed her brows and cocked her head slightly.

"Looms, Tyler, looms."

"So, tha's it then? All females forever?"

"At least they can return to the inner cities and reclaim a bit of what they've lost." He let go of her and walked back to his console. "Right now we need to focus of clearing up what we can, then we'll deal with Lady Hera, and giving the people the loom schematics."

He started the dematerialisation sequence and took them back to the nightmare within the mountain.


	17. Compassion

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who nor gain anything monetarily from the writing of this story.**

**First, please accept my apologies for taking so long to update. Holidays. Work. Life. We all know the drill, but still, I will strive to keep the updates regular again from here on out.**

**Second, yay, we're through with Olympia! Ish. Shut up. Spoilers.  
><strong>

**C: I've a nasty habit of writing out of order once I get to the middle bits. I hate writing middle bits, so our ending is done and now I have to connect it all.**

**Thank you so much for the comments, support, and encouragement! I haven't said before, but it really means a lot to me when I get the notifications. Definitely a huge day brightener, and I love that anyone other than myself is enjoying my little brain child.**

**With that... This is one of my favourite chapters so far. But it's the calm before the storm. Still, I loved giving the Doctor and the Alpha bonding time. Their dynamic is always fun to write and they needed to do a little bridge building.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>It took them hours to locate every wayward piece but soon enough every trace of TARDIS or Time Lord tech had been stripped away and safely stowed within the depths of his own timeship.<p>

Each had a heavy heart as the last piece, the now dark and lifeless core, was loaded and stowed away deep within the recesses of the Doctor's TARDIS. His ship had withdrawn from interacting with her passengers. The Doctor assumed she was mourning in her own way. This must have been why she brought them there, but it couldn't have been easy to see one of her sisters in that condition. He sent her his love and commiseration through their bond.

The triplets and Jack had disappeared to change while he set the coordinates for Zeus Lycaeus. It was well into the evening now, and the Doctor wanted nothing more than to be done with this awful planet - why had he been so excited to come here again? Oh, right, excellent sweets. Still, awful terrible planet - but he couldn't leave it under the control of someone bent on the genocide of her own people.

The Doctor landed them directly in the chamber of the mad queen, but they found it was deserted and throughout were obvious signs of struggle.

They followed the wake of overturned amphoras, broken flower vases, and pillars askew to the ground floor and into the main temple containing the golden wolf and the altar. There they found the women of Zeus Lycaeus in mourning.

The truth and all the horrific memories had come back to them in a tumultuous flood, and most were sobbing and clutching each other for comfort. Some were obviously outraged with no vent for their righteous anger apart from the destruction of the physical manifestations of the lie they had been living for centuries. These women were smashing the marble wolves and ripping apart rose garlands.

None of the Doctor's party could blame them. Most of them felt like smashing things too.

The air smelled acrid and foul, like burning flesh and further investigation revealed the altar had recently been used in some sort of ritual sacrifice. The Doctor scanned it with his sonic and hung his head.

When would anyone learn? Every species he encountered was guilty of it at some point, but it never got easier to accept.

He had a moment of rage where he considered walking away right then and leaving these stupid beings to rot in their idiocy, and then he remembered the Master. None of this had been possible without his poisonous influence, so he steeled himself for confrontation.

"You murdered them," he said loudly to no one in particular.

The temple grew very quiet, those crying stifled their sobs, and those wrecking froze in place. They were like toddlers startled mid-tantrum by a very cross parent.

Lios spotted Clytie among the destroyers and she moved forward with her eyes on his face. He turned from her, keeping his expression neutral and stared at the Doctor.

Perhaps it was this rejection that sparked a little fire back into the girl but she marched right up to the elder Time Lord with utter defiance, and spoke with no fear in her voice.

"They were evil and deserved to die. Had we not burned them, they would have captured and sacrificed them to summon the Wolf Goddess!" She pointed her golden finger in the direction of the triplets and let her green eyes blaze, daring him to challenge her assertion.

The rage he experienced at this proclamation was palpable, but he responded with cool incredulity. "Sacrificed to summon the Wolf Goddess? How was that going to work exactly?"

"She was to burn them so their essence would be unbound and bring back the one that erected the barriers around the inner cities. Once she returned, the Titans could be released again. We had to burn them all before they killed us, do you not see?" the woman stormed.

He, of course, wasn't daunted by her ire, and shook his head. "Murder is murder. They deserved a trial and fair sentencing, but you lot hadn't had enough bloodshed and violence, had you? Well done. You have a finite population and have just successfully diminished it further. Well done indeed." His voice was quiet but everyone in the room heard it keenly.

"What is it to you, _Lord of Time?_ _Your_ people and _your_ war caused this suffering! What right have you to speak to us of bloodshed and violence? We were a peaceful people before the other Lord of Time polluted our High Lady. _He_ is to blame for her death and the deaths of millions! Do not speak to me of trials and fairness! The High Lady and the priestesses were of Olympia, not Gallifrey! We have done what we had the right to do!" Clytie railed and seized a nearby vase of yellow roses, hurling it to the ground where it shattered. This seemed to reanimate the room at large and the rest of the women began murmuring their agreement with the nymph.

"When you claim to know who should live and who should die, you have lost the most essential part of existence, the fallibility that keeps you compassionate," he admonished. "You're lost and I pity you," he sighed heavily, "I hope one day you find your way. I'm finished here."

He motioned for the others to follow as he started back for the TARDIS, but the Omega stopped him with a hand on his arm. The Doctor searched the youngest man's face and saw his own conflict mirrored in the piercing blue eyes. The Alpha stepped up beside her brother and threw her arms around the Doctor's neck.

It was the shock of the unprecedented affection that snapped him out of his fury and allowed him to absorb his own words.

She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes with a softness he'd never seen before. "Fix it, Doctor," she whispered.

He pulled her in for another embrace before pulling the loom schematics out of his coat pocket and striding to the blackened and oily altar where he lay the hope for their future on the remains of their past.

Without another word, the five interlopers left the Olympians to their grief and went back to the timeship where the Doctor didn't even wait for Jack to fully close the doors before starting the dematerialisation sequence and hurling them back into the vortex.

Lios announced he would be fixing himself up in the infirmary, and refused each of their offers of assistance.

Torin and Jack made for the galley and the quiet comfort of tea and biscuits, while the Alpha shifted from foot to foot and played with her layers, clearly wishing to speak but unable to find the words.

"What is it, Selene Tyler? You look like a toddler that needs a toilet."

She huffed and stilled her fidgeting but remained quiet. He let her stare at him in silence for a few minutes before trying again.

"If you can't say it out loud, don't."

She screwed her face into a slightly pained expression but sent her thoughts anyway.

_I hate myself for even thinkin' it, but… I couldn't help noticin' we brought aboard, well, erm, everythin' we could need to… Am I a bad person for it? I know it's horrible, I do, but…_

"No, Tyler. The thought occurred to me too. I didn't want to bring it up just yet, but you'll find what you want in that cupboard there." He indicated a door leading to one of the many storages just across from the purple tree.

Relief flooded her face followed by sheepish guilt. She swallowed and nodded.

"Let it go, Tyler. Make the decision, and let it go."

She nodded again and marched toward the storage room with determined purpose. He helped her carry the parts to the door of her ship but remained outside as she moved everything in. Eventually she huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Doctor, jus' come in. 'M not gonna - er - well, I… Look, jus'… you can come in, ok?"

He stepped in tentatively and began adding to the piles around the console.

She shot him a few furtive glances before saying to the room at large, "'S a fiddly bit near the bariophaser tha's been doin' my head in. Could use a fresh pair of eyes, I reckon."

The Doctor tried to move to the console as casually as possible to hide the excitement he felt that not only had she just invited him to actually touch her ship, but that he was going to get his hands on a TT capsule that had been growing without the restrictive Time Lord influences. He'd never seen a TARDIS that hadn't been tampered with to comply with Gallifreyan law. It was a fascinating prospect.

With barely contained glee, he removed the grating and insinuated himself between the floor and the bariophaser.

After nearly an hour of quietly working side by side, they were both considerably more relaxed and Selene went out to fetch a few more bobs from the storage.

Torin approached her with a mug of tea on her return trip.

"What're you doing?" he asked, making an effort to keep the accusation out of his voice.

"Takin' these in, wha's it look like?"

"It looks like those are pieces of the ship we just put to rest. What are you doing with them?" The anger was cropping up despite his best efforts.

"Like I said, I'm taking them in," she huffed and walked in to their TARDIS with the Doctor inside, wading through the old pieces they'd acquired and discarding anything that was now superfluous.

Torin charged in hot on her heels.

"You're not using those in here."

"Why not?"

"You can't." Torin folded his arms across his chest and scowled at the Alpha.

"I can, I have, an' I will."

"That ship was tortured for hundreds of years, Alpha! Have a bit of compassion!"

"I do! Torin, I do! But these parts are like long removed limbs tha' couldn't feel it, an' were jus' sittin' in junk piles. Jus' like the markets we go to. You never moan about them."

"They weren't ever _alive,_ Selene!"

"These parts aren't anymore either an' haven't been in a long time!"

"It's different!"

"No, Torin, it isn't. How's it any different than an organ donor then, eh? Even if we're not puttin' it in the same category as other ship parts, how's it any different than a new liver from a stranger if it's gonna keep this baby from dyin'? Answer tha' then."

"Would it be alright if you had your organs cut out and chucked it in a bin, then someone found 'em and decided they'd do well in someone else?"

"Well, I'd be dead or regenerated so, yeah, I probably couldn't be bothered."

"You're out of order, and you_ know_ it!"

"Oh, don't be stupid, Torin."

"I swear, if you do this, I'll never set foot on this ship again, Selene."

"'S your choice, innit? I can't force you to do anythin', can I?"

Torin stormed out without a backward glance at his gaping sister.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it."

She shrugged and knitted her brows. "He might. He's got options now an' all." She swallowed hard and shook her head to clear it and refocus. "'S alright. Can't help tha' I'm a pragmatist. Torin may be upset with me, but I'm not wrong. Not sayin' I'm right. Jus'… not wrong." She buried herself under the exposed console and began installing the salvaged parts in question.

"It doesn't feel good to make hard decisions. For what it's worth, you made the smart decision and the one I'd have made myself." He lay down on a rolling dolly and followed suit.

"Yeah, you're really not helping."

"Oi! I'm trying to comfort you!"

"Why? 'Cos I'm so little? Don't fret! Got my leather on now, 'm back to destroyin' all tha's fun an' happy."

"Selene Tyler, you're a barrel of - well, not laughs exactly, but something."

She huffed but smiled slightly, "I'm never gettin' you to call me anythin' else, am I?"

"Not a chance. That is your name after all, though how that came to be I'll never understand. Selene? Lios? Torin? Your father and I couldn't have thought too much alike if you lot ended up being called that. Must've been residual Donna, or did your mother forbid his input?"

"Nah. Selene was a compromise. Well, I s'ppose tha's the nice way of puttin' it. Apparently there were rows. Mum wanted to call me Jacqueline after her mum, but Dad insisted tha' no Time Lord or Lady in the history of existence was ever called _'Jackie'_ an' tha' wouldn't be changin'. He wanted to name me for your granddaughter; said Arkytior was right proper since it also roughly means Rose. Mum said there had to've been a reason she went by Susan instead. Wha'd they call me casually? Arky? Tior? _Ti-ti?_ - _Tha'_ was bad, she said, tha's wha' you _do_ in the loo when you're a little girl, not wha' you_ call_ a little girl. So, after a suitable amount of sleepin' in the lounge, Dad suggested Selenialatovara an' Mum shortened it. A lot. Li's name's a similar story. Heliosdanaritaxicor got cut into Lios. Torin Mum chose. She insisted to Dad tha' it was an Irish name she liked the meanin' of, but she told us later tha' it's really Tony, Peter, and Jacqueline all smashed together."

The Doctor felt a stab of jealousy that he hadn't been the one actually having the naming argument, lounge banishment and all. It was, of course, exactly what he would have said - even loved both the names Selenialatovara and Heliosdanaritaxicor as they were the names of the twin suns on Gallifrey - and he was irritated, and not a little offended by Rose's arguments against Arkytior, which was one of the most beautiful names he could imagine. But Time Lady _Jackie?_ He reminded himself to have a poke at Rose about that one when he could.

"Time Lady Selenialatovara, eh?"

"I fully regret tellin' you already."

"It's lovely! You know what it means?"

"Ye-p. Still, not my name."

"I won't be able to -"

"_Never._ It's the Alpha, an' don't you forget it."

"That's my girl."

She shook her head and smiled. "D'you know, I'd probably've chucked somethin' at you if you'd said tha' yesterday?"

"What happened to hating me after taking me for my tenner?"

She hesitated a moment, stopping her soldering, and stared at her idle hands. "Doctor…"

"There's really no need, Selene Tyler. You don't have to say anything."

"Yeah… But…"

"Really, it's ok."

"Yeah… It isn't. But I appreciate it all the same. Not tha' great with words after all, me. I mean, I can talk. I can talk people blue in the face, but…"

"Believe me, I understand."

She chuckled. "Yeah… Still… I'm… I'm glad you found us. You're… you… you're not a bad man, maybe even a good one."

The Doctor remained silent, focusing on the gravitational flex capacitor he was wiring, but smiled inwardly. "Hand me the bit of wire there, will you?"

"'S closer to you, shiftless." She stood and brought the coil of living wire to him anyway. "When my mum comes back, wha' are you gonna do?" She hooked her foot under the primitive dolly he was lying on and rolled him back out. She bored holes into him with her honey coloured eyes.

"What?" He cocked his head and frowned. What did that have to do with anything really? And what was this? Jackie Tyler reincarnated? Time Lady Jackie, indeed. He half worried she'd slap him if he said the wrong thing.

His panic must have been evident on his face because she laughed and relaxed a bit. "Gormless, I'm not… You're bad with words, yeah? Like me? Better with a plan than words then too, I'd wager, so make one 'cos she's comin' back as soon as I can manage it. She's spent nearly two hundred hard years without you - er - this you, yeah? An' a century with jus' us, so she's not the naïve girl from a London shop you ran 'round with. Well, you're both different, an' if tha' matters to you -"

"It doesn't." He started to wheel himself back under but she stuck her boot out again.

"Shut up a minute. If tha' matters to you - an' you oughtta think about it, an' hard too, 'cos if you muck it up an' make my mum sad again, I _will_ destroy you - er, sorry, this's really me bein' friendly, I swear - but if it matters I wanna be able to tell her 'fore she goes runnin' to find you. I know you got married an' all - Dad told us 'bout River Song - an' no one, not even Mum, would blame you -"

"Alpha…"

"- if the part of your life tha' Rose Tyler fit in to was over, or you'd moved on an' changed, or healed, or wha'ever. Tha's wha' happens sometimes, y'know, with life an' all. 'S why I keep sayin' you're not under any obligation here - er - I jus' want to make sure you're sure-"

"Tyler."

"- tha' you can do it - if you wanted to, of course. You're not gonna change your mind later because everythin's so different an', I dunno, leave her somewhere on a beach or somethin' - _I swear, if we have to go pick her up on a beach, I'll strangle you, I will._ I'd've strangled Dad too, so don't feel special, tha' jus' my mum, an' she's too forgiving for her own good sometimes. So, yeah, make a plan an'-"

"Selene!"

"Wha'?"

"I'm sure. Whether or not she'll want_ me_ is entirely another matter -" he swallowed audibly, "- and a slightly very frightening one at that, I mean I look… different, and I mean, I know I've gone through a regeneration with her before, but, well, you just never know if new personality quirks - but I've had quite a long time to think about it, alright? You don't know how often I wanted to strangle _myself_ for being an idiot, or cross my own timeline and rewrite the past - how often I've been just a flip of a switch away from doing just that, actually - or from posing as a maths tutor and going to see her when she was still in school, or just jumping in when I knew I'd swanned off and left her at her mum's for a while. Point is, I'm_ sure._ I don't care how much older she is. I don't care that she's different. Sure, we'll need to, well, reacquaint ourselves, but I'm sure. Surer than sure even. Completely positive. No misgivings."

"Tha's wha' worries me! You've this perfect fantasy in your head!"

He grinned and closed his eyes conjuring up Rose Tyler's face in his mind as he lay beneath the young console. "Fantasy could never touch the reality of Rose Tyler, my dear," he breathed. Of course it couldn't. She radiated good, wonderful, impossible things. That woman took in the time vortex and lived - not only lived, but saved him and the Earth while apparently designing a sustainable living paradox by creating her own existence! She sacrificed herself to save the world again at Canary Wharf and should have stayed lost, but still she crossed the void to save him and the universe, only to have that be the catalyst with which she might have saved his entire species with these three! "Also, she's one helluva kisser." Oh. He'd said that last bit out loud, hadn't he? Still, he couldn't stop himself and added, "Seriously. _Yowzah._ Oh, grow up and stop pulling faces or it might stay that way. Do you honestly think fantasies and memories could ever do her justice even in my frankly magnificent brain?"

"No. I really don't, but I wanted to make sure 'cos, well, before with you an' all, an' it's my mum. Carry on then. My ship won't fix herself yet, old man." She wafted a hand at him to shoo him away.

He chuckled and shot her a dazzling grin. "You like me." He rolled himself back under so that his legs were the only thing visible but the grin didn't fade.

"Shut up." She strode back to the area where she'd been working and set to stripping wires.

"No! You do! You like me, Selenialatovara Arkytior Ty-_Yow!_" She'd thrown a spanner and hit him on the thigh just above the knee. He jerked and knocked his forehead on the bariophaser above him. He rubbed at it and winced. "Abusive! That's elder abuse, that is!"

"Don't ever call me tha' again. Makes me sound so -"

"Time Lady-ish?" He grinned unabashedly. "Could've said Selenialatovara Arkytior of the Exalted Prydonian House of Lungbarrow and really slathered on the panoply. Though, I suppose since you weren't loomed from it, you wouldn't _technically_-"

"Lungbarrow? 'S tha' like your actual last name then?"

"No, er - no. How do you not know this? Your dad never explained it?"

She shook her head and shrugged, "Not exactly important tha', is it? Not compared to learnin' the complexities of time and spacial manipulation without the aid of a wormhole or High Gallifreyan or the correct temperature to solder livin' wire without killin' or injurin' it. His name was jus' Dad, or Doctor, or John Noble-Smith to me, an' he died when I was 26. Was jus' a Time Tot then, really. I got more of his - er, your - stories from Mum than he had time to tell."

"Lungbarrow is not a name in the way that humans use names - the way that you and your brothers are named. No one ever called me Theta Sigma Lungbarrow. It's the house I belong to. Sort of like a family name, but not at all, actually, because families were much different among Time Lords. Love and family units were considered silly and sentimental. Less family the way you know it, more political and social connections and most often within the same house for - er - genetic purity."

"How very aristocratic. And… Ew."

He chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Exactly. A whole society of aristocratic snootiness and rules. I make it look like fun you know, but it was fairly sterile. And boring to be honest. Feeling sentimental and passionate about - er - much landed me in trouble. Often. Got chucked out, more than once actually, even though later they… Well, it doesn't matter now." Thinking of being ostracised and even banished had never bothered him much until there was no longer a home planet from which to be barred. Still, he travelled everywhere with a little piece of home. It could be worse. Well, no, not really, for him anyway, not much. Could've been much worse for the universe. And that _was_ worse, of course. No universe, no Rose Tyler and her wonderfully impossible offspring. He could carry the enormity of what he'd done for this to be possible right now. "You should have seen what they made us wear to High Council meetings. Puts anything the Earth Royals wore at court to shame, and not because it looked smart. Bloody uncomfortable, and for a pragmatic society, utterly ridiculous. All in all, I was glad when they chucked me out - er - the last time."

"Hm. Interestin'. Stories I got 'bout Gallifrey were usually at Academy, settin' professors in time loops to skive an' whatnot. Do… er... no, nevermind."

"Go on."

"Nah, 's daft."

He looked at her with genuine curiosity. "No, go on. I'm all ears."

"Tha's Torin. You're all chin."

"Oi! Eyebrows!"

"Do we have brothers or sisters? Or, I mean, not, no - er - do you have children?"

"None living."

"Right. Sorry. Bad. Yeah. Told you it was stupid. Sorry."

"It's alright. It's only natural to be curious."

"I was jus' wonderin' with River Song an' all. Could be. Could've been. Maybe. Apparently not. Forget it." She became very engrossed in finding a setting on her sonic.

"No, actually. I can't. Gallifreyans were - er - are - no - were sterile. We used looms. Hence the houses. Again, how do you not know this? But there _was_ an - er - incident on Messaline with a progenation machine years ago and… Dunno if you knew about… but she died. Jenny, her name was. But she died. I had children on Gallifrey of course - er, looms and all - and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but… And River and I… even if we could've done - er… had children that is… I mean, with adventures, and end of existence, and sightseeing… we snogged a fair bit, but never… _Why am I telling you this?_"

_"Never?"_

"Does it matter? I mean, why _would_ we? Even Rose and I never…"

"You were _married_ you utterly daft git! Why _wouldn't_ you?" She scooted over to his part of the console and began fiddling with the connections he had forgotten.

"Weren't you just making faces about me kissing your mum?"

"'S different. I don't wanna know how nice it was. An' you said the word '_yowzah._' Who says tha'? I'm sayin' you're an idiot for marryin' someone an' still actin' like a monk, Dum-dum."

"Well, it's complicated!"

"Not really, unless you've got a weird quirk with this new body tha' actually, really I honestly don't need or wanna know 'bout, ta."

"What? No! You've spent too much time with Jack. It's just complicated with the…" He fidgeted and rolled his eyes in the direction of his forehead.

"Telepathic link? Wha', really? Too much skin on skin, eh? Wha', you embarrassed? Got somethin' you don't want anyone to - oh. Right. Yeah, I guess tha' makes a bit of sense then. Still, you can't block it or jus' maybe, I dunno, _multitask?_ An' you a genius? Oh, look at you blush an' squirm! You are repressed, you are!"

"I'll have you know that Time Lords -" he began scowling at her smug demeanour. He was the master of himself like any self-respecting -

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

"Well, it's true. Blimey, you're rude."

"Ye-p, 's why my sonic has a soundproofin' settin', innit? Dad jus' programmed tha' in there on the off chance he might need it someday _for repairs._" She shook her head knowingly and aimed her sonic on its soundproofing setting at his face and pushed the button, bathing him in blue glow.

He childishly retaliated with his own, lighting her face in green. "I'll have you know, that's a useful setting for - er - loads of -"

"Yeah, yeah."

"You couldn't possibly understand without growing up in the culture."

She huffed. "Even you, oh, _proper_ Time Lord of Gallifrey, cannot deny you've at least wanted to, an' I know for a fact you have at some point in your rather vast history. Add to tha' I'm livin' proof the thought occurs to you, an' don't go blamin' tha' on his humanity. The thought occurs to you, an' why shouldn' it? It's bloody good fun."

He couldn't help laughing in surprise, then turned it into a cough and a scowl. "Shut up. You're too young to understand. I've got over a thousand years of dark memories and you didn't grow up with the taboo, did you? Hard to get over, you know."

"No, I don't. Don't fancy knowin' either. I may not be a proper Time Lady, but I don't need to be to know when I'm right." She grinned smugly. "Jus' sayin' you're daft. Mum's seen most of tha' stuff in your head before, an' if you stay celibate 'cos you're a _Time Lord_, it'd be ridiculous."

"_Why_ am I talking about this with you?" He narrowed his eyes a second then looked back at the wires he was meant to be soldering and pushed back at his fringe. These were things he never talked about, even with Amy, but apparently here he was lying under a console not his own and discussing… with…? It wasn't happening. Had he actually died on Rodan IV and this was some sort of strange limbo where he was in the midst of a crazy dream borne of loneliness in the universe, or had he stopped just threatening to go over the edge and was finally completely mental?

"I want my mum to be happy," she replied with her brows knitted and her eyes far away. "We can't chat like mates?" Her eyebrows shot up toward her hairline, then they sank back down and knitted together. "Is this not how mates chat? Never really had one before outside of Jack 'cos Torin an' Li don't count. How do mates chat then? I mean, I'm not sayin' we're mates." The brows shot back up. "Only, I dunno, maybe I wouldn't hate tha'." She didn't look at him but screwed up her face and cocked her head as if the idea was doing her head in.

"No! Mates. Yes. That's ok. Er - good even - but it's _you!_ We're talking about - and you're _her_ - and _you_ don't… er, _haven't_…? Or want… to do… well, those things… do you? Not that I have any right to - er - I mean, I'm not telling you not to, but, it's not like you've got a regular bloke, you know, and you're just, well, you're awfully young! _Too_ young!" She was too. Barely an adult. Preposterous.

"Oi!" She giggled, then caught herself and feigned an offended look. "You didn't mind when my brothers were runnin' 'round tryin' to chat up those Olympian birds, did you? 'S alright for the Lords but not the Ladies, eh? Come on, Doctor, I'm 127, not a child! _An'_ I've even regenerated already! You don't think in 127 years -"

"No!" He threw his hands up, nearly losing his grip on his sonic, and rolled out from under the console. "Really, I don't want to know! Actually, never tell me, thanks. You're… There are some things I can't… Just, well, just _not_ Harkness, right? Because I've wanted to chuck him into the vortex f- er… No. Nevermind. Just, no." He pushed his fringe back and began wringing his hands.

She laughed uproariously. "Keep makin' tha' face an' it'll stay tha' way. Really, you wouldn't want tha', 's bad enough already."

"Mates, eh?" He furrowed his brows and looked at her curiously.

"Shut it." She crawled back under the console and busied her hands.

"Mates."

"Wha's with tha' face you're makin'? Wha' d'you wanna say then?"

"Nothing! Nothing, really."

"Doctor, wha'?" she asked between sonic whirs.

"Really! It's nothing, mate." He wasn't sure why it bothered him. He wasn't sure if he wanted her to see him as an advisor, or at least someone to be respected, or if it was something else. Of course, mates was a decided improvement from even two days before, but it levelled their playing field too much. Not that he had a problem with being equal with others… but he was generally in a position of authority or influence even amongst friends, and she really didn't seem to care about that. She was headstrong and he wanted to be able to teach her. That must've been it.

"Better'n bein' jus' some bloody prat I hate, innit?" She rolled her eyes and peered at him from her position below but her eyes were not unkind. "Look, you're not my dad an' not my captain, are you? Not really. I mean, you didn't change nappies for years or teach me to fly, or hire me as crew, so I can't think of you tha' way, but we can be friends jus' the same, an' maybe tha's better, yeah? Can talk more openly with a mate an' you don't have any responsibility toward me." Her eyes had gone a bit steely again. It was a bitter change from the warmth he had so recently found. "I can take care of myself, y'know, an' them too 'cos I am dead clever an' all. We all are. We're alright. We're always alright." She shook her head as if to clear it. A bit of warmth returned and she grinned charmingly, "So, I'll be able to shag who I want an' you won't have to kill 'em, yeah?"

He sighed and straightened his tie. "Can you just leave off the shagging bit? I don't want to know!"

"You don't… er… feel like you're - er - our dad… do you? Tha's not somethin' you want… right?"

He didn't say anything for a minute. "No! Er… I don't know what… I… I don't know."

"Well, we should jus' leave it, yeah? 'S not complicated this way, an' we won't have to row - er - as much."

"Do you realise we haven't shouted at each other in days?"

"Oh, well, tha'll never do, let's fix tha' then." She started to haul herself from her spot in mock preparation.

"Well, you did throw a spanner at me. I think that means we can skip it this time, full stop." He stood up and dusted himself off and straightened his bow-tie. "Back in a tick. I'm going to see how your brother is fairing with the skin grafter in the med-bay."

"Ye-p. Go on then, you're bein' useless anyway. Out."

They grinned at each other and he made his way back to his own ship.


	18. Such Sweet Sorrow

_**A/N: **_**I do not own Doctor Who not profit from the writing of this story.**

**Second chapter I'm posting today! Since life is settling back down after the holidays, I'll be updating regularly again!**

**Mea Culpa Maxima. Mea Maxima Maxima Culpa.**

**It hurts my feelings doing this to them, but it's so necessary.**

**I promise everything is playing out as it needs to to preserve timelines.**

**I feel evil for even typing that.**

* * *

><p>He found Lios examining the newly healed skin on his torso, which still looked pink and a bit angry. The young man looked up at his entrance and hastily started donning the clothing piled on the gurney next to him.<p>

"Wait a tick, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a look."

"I'm fine. All healed," he replied as he bucked his trousers.

"Used a dermal generator before?"

"No, but I figured it out."

"Let me have a look then."

"It's fine, honestly."

"Why does everyone assume Doctor is just a name? It's like telling people not to wander off, they never listen when I say, 'I'm a doctor.' I _am_ a doctor, Lios, and I'd like the piece of mind that a proper examination will give," he said taking the younger man by the arm and guiding him onto the gurney.

Lios shifted uncomfortably for a moment then seemed to come to some internal resolution and shrugged, lying back.

He appeared to have done a decent job of repairing the wounds on his torso, but the areas that were harder to reach were left only half healed. The Doctor retrieved the instrument and set about finishing them off.

"It'll heal itself in a few days…" he mumbled half heartedly but the Doctor ignored him and continued his ministrations. He had finished the right shoulder and arm after a few minutes of silence then made his way to the other side of the bed.

"So, Heliosdanaritaxicor, tell me about the nymph."

Lios blushed and shrugged, "Nothing to tell. I let her pretty face cloud my judgement. Won't happen again."

"Ah, but where is the fun in that? It's all over, isn't it? No harm done on your part, and what an…" The Doctor had fixed his eyes on the gold markings on the young man's arm. His face was inscrutable but the torrents behind his green eyes weren't lost on the observant young man. Lios knew it had been coming, and waited for the older man's reaction. "An adventure. Sorry. Yes, quite the adventure. Your brother is quite angry with your sister, though. Might need a little intervening. I'd offer, but I think reason and pragmatism isn't what Torin needs right now. Perhaps you should go find him when we're all done here."

"You're not going to say anything?"

"No, I rather think Selene has the right of it, but that's because I'm very pragmatic myself. You see, Torin is upset that -"

"That's not what I meant."

The Doctor sighed and looked very old and tired as he looked into the searching blue ones. "You'd tell me if I asked? Your sister hasn't forbidden it? It's the reason you didn't want my help, obviously. Getting you lot to open up has proven exceedingly difficult so far."

"Selene is scared you'll chuck us out."

The doctor furrowed his brows, what kind of monster did she believe he was? Was he really that bad? Maybe he was. He hadn't exactly had a smooth relationship with her, and perhaps he might have reacted badly at first… but no, no, he felt stung by the belief she harboured and how very little she trusted him. "Lios Tyler, I know where you come from, why should this be so shocking? And why would I ever chuck you out? That's a bit insulting, really."

"Doctor…"

"I know she doesn't trust me, and to be honest, I don't blame her. She's been scared and protective and I'm… I've… I'm…"

"Doctor, she -"

"No, it's alright, actually. Were I her, I would probably do the same, honestly, and I just have to learn to forgive that quality in her."

"Doctor, she's -"

"Really you don't have to try and make peace between us. I'm not angry. Er - well, not very angry, I'll get over it. I won't even mention it to her. This is what happened when you looked into the Untempered Schism, isn't it?"

"Yes, but, Doctor -"

He sighed, "You all have them then? Same place? I wish I'd taken more time to understand this Bad Wolf business. Just when I think some strange chapter in my life has finished, it comes right back. Of course, hard to leave behind something that was scattered through space and time to follow you, I suppose. I'm sorry I caused this, Lios. I really am. "

"Doctor! It isn't your fault! Please! Don't start that."

"You're a good man, Heliosdanaritaxicor, but yes, it is. I'm not saying I regret having you here, but if I'd never meddled in your mum's life, this wouldn't be happening. Have you lot figured it out then? Are you willing to share with an old man?"

"No, we haven't, not exactly, not fully, no matter what the Alpha thinks, and I'm gonna murder Torin for spilling that name to you."

"Ah, but it's Selenialatovara Tyler you'll be murdering, not Torin Tyler, whose short but brilliant name is apparently an homage Tyler kind everywhere." The Doctor smiled warmly at him and gestured toward his arm for permission to examine it more closely.

Lios nodded and opened his mouth to speak, then snapped it shut and drew his blonde brows together.

"Lios? I'm going to do something right now that I almost never do on principle. Well, while I say almost never, I really can't recall the last time I did, but that's hardly surprising. Where was I? Oh, yes! I'm going to ask you for advice. You're cautious, and I'm not. Well, no, I am, very extremely cautious about somethings, but I've bollocksed up enough so far so… er… I mean, I'm in considerably new territory here after all, and the last thing I want is to undo the progress I've made, and well, you know her and seem to handle her better than anyone. Should I confront her? How serious is this? What can you tell me? Would you rather I just had it out with her and left you out of the middle? I'm… I'm at a bit of a loss, you see. I'm tired of rowing with her, and she always seems to be able to avoid whatever she doesn't want to share anyway. She's very frustrating."

"Selene… Doctor, she's my sister. She's…"

"Yes! No, I know! And I understand if you'd rather not get involved in it. I'll just leave it then."

"No! Doctor… She's… Doctor, I love my sister and I want to keep her safe. She's - I can't - But she's - God! She's so stubborn - and infuriating!"

"Well, yes, just said so myself, didn't I?"

"She won't let anyone help her and she's so goddam self-righteous that she probably never will! But she's my _sister!_ She's part of what makes me whole, do you understand? She's taken care of us and sacrificed so much so that we wouldn't have to! She's dedicated and loyal! She's a good person, Doctor! She is! She doesn't deserve… this… this life, I mean, or me utterly betraying her right now, but someone has to say something! Someone has to help her! Please! She's my sister! Promise me that you'll help her? Promise me you won't get angry at her and refuse once she's blown her top - 'cos she will! Oh, God! She will! She's not even going to speak to me for… well, if you can help her, it'll be worth it. There's always a price isn't there? A price for what's right. If the price for her life is my betrayal, then I have to pay it, don't I? Torin doesn't understand, but I do! I can't ignore it all because I prefer things cozy."

"Alright, keep calm! Back up a bit. What am I missing? Why doesn't she want help? What do you mean?"

"The markings. Selene is co-"

"Wha' now? I'm wha?" She stood in the doorway with her face a mask of calm and ease, but Lios looked horror stricken and his words died in his throat. "Omega, wha' were you sayin'? The Doctor's waitin'."

The Doctor observed as the two siblings stared at each other in the tense silence, the Alpha challenging and the Omega pleading but not lowering his gaze.

He decided it was up to him. "Alpha," he began in order to keep from further antagonising her, "would you mind showing me your arm? I wish you'd have told me about this, but I'm not angry with you. I knew you were keeping something from me, and honestly, I thought you'd give me more credit than this. I knew you lot were closely tied to Bad Wolf. You have nothing to worry about from me. Please, let's just move forward from here. May I see your arm?"

She looked away from Lios and let her eyes bore into the Doctor's. She was being exceptionally hard to read. She wasn't displaying any of her usual signs of agitation like fidgeting from foot to foot, nor was she faffing about with her layers. No exasperated huff escaped her lips, and for once, her brows stayed smooth and separated. She looked less like a huffy know-it-all, and more like a woman who had lived over a century. Her eyes expressed utter weariness, resolve, and sadness with a hint of regret. "Las' bit's in," she said finally but didn't take her eyes away from his. "I'm gonna try to power her up with the channeller. Thought maybe we'd do it together, but maybe 's not such a good idea after all. Li still looks like he could do with a bit of help. I'll jus' be headin' back."

They were both startled by the clattering of metal on the floor. Lios had jumped off the gurney, knocking the dermal generator to the floor, and was advancing on his sister with helpless frustration clearly written all over him. He reached out and seized her muffler as she stepped back toward the corridor. She had a stern warning on her face and he desperation and apology. The bare-footed young man in the hospital gown and trousers moved closer and obscured her from the Doctor's view.

"Li, please," she begged. His face hardened and he tugged. The red bit of fabric fell away, but by the time it hit the floor, she had taken off with speed and silence back the way she'd come.

Lios hung his head in shame as he stifled a sob. He bent to pick up the discarded muffler then stared at it in his hands.

"She's covered in them. The words. It's not just the arm. She keeps covered, but they come almost all the way to her chin. Torin… Torin and I, it's the arm and the Bad Wolf… Not her… Hers are… She's… Doctor, please… please, help her… I don't want my sister to die, Doctor. Nothing is worth that. Not some planet or… anyone, I don't care how that sounds. Please. She's not a pawn for the universe to play games with. She's my sister… my… sister…" Lios swallowed the hard lump in his throat but couldn't look up from his toes.

"Have you seen them all?"

"No. Yes. Not exactly, but I've seen them all written down, but they're so hard to decipher. They could mean so many things. Please."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to your sister, calm down. Tell me what you know, and what you think you know. Tell me everything." The TARDIS prodded him to get his attention but he studiously ignored it as he focused on the youngest of the children.

"I will. Please, give her one more chance, though?" He finally looked up at the Doctor. "To tell you herself, I mean. She's got them all written down and maybe she'll even give that to you. If not, I'll get them but, please, it's important that it's on her terms - er - as much as possible now."

The Doctor shook his head and smiled sadly. "She won't, but I'll make the effort - er… Should I go alone?"

"She won't want to see me for a while. She's really upset. I mean, really upset. Shut down our connection and everything."

The Doctor felt for her presence himself and found nothing. She was barring everyone. Not exactly hopeful. "Understood. Hey," he stopped on his way out and put an hand on the young man's shoulder. The look in his eyes spoke of guilt, panic, and immense pain. He pulled the boy in for a hug and found himself being clutched like a life preserver. "Calm down. It's gonna be alright. Really, it is. At least the secret is out, right? That's always the worst of it. Now we can sort out this mess, alright? You did what you had to do. Maybe it doesn't seem like the right thing right now, but sometimes the right choices feel wrong, or too hard to make. I was just talking to your sister about that, actually."

"When we do this to each other it hurts, physically and everything," he confessed pointing to his head as he pulled away from the hug. "For her too and she's doing it anyway. It's just… if we lost her for real… I'm such a prat. I just should've tried harder with her."

"None of that, Lios Tyler, she's going to forgive you. She'll have a fantastic shout at me, we are overdue after all, and I'll make sure she gets it all out. Leave it to the Doctor, eh?" The ship gave him another impatient prod that he pushed aside. He was going already!

"Doctor… I… I am…I can't… Thank you."

He nodded and set off for the young TT capsule in which he was sure to find the Alpha hiding out. Hopefully, he'd be able to get back in. He had a feeling, even if she had locked it, he would no longer be denied access by Torin or Lios.

After a few minutes of meandering slowly to gather his thoughts, the TARDIS moved the console room just to the end of the hall. That was helpful even if she was nagging him to hurry up as he plodded and mulled over how to approach the surly woman that hated to be less than perfect and right but admitted talking wasn't her forte.

Only, when he arrived in the console room, the TARDIS that had been pretending to be a tree was conspicuously absent.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. She must have cloaked it when she powered it up. He wasn't going to let her childish antics affect him, however. He was going to be the essence of patience and wisdom. He was going to break through to her and fix everything because, as she had pointed out the day before, he was the madman in a blue box that did just that. Fixed things. And, if he could bring down corrupt empires and peace to solar systems, what was a bit of cryptic writing and a domestic between his kids? Er - Rose's children. Mates of his. His mates. She wanted to be his mate, right? Here was his chance.

He strode over to the corner where he knew it to be and reached out to feel for the knot where he'd find the door but met only air and nothing.

Panic swept through him for a moment as he continued moving forward. He should have smacked into solid timeship and there was _nothing._

He dashed from empty space to empty space in the vain hope that he'd misremembered its location or that she'd moved slightly to throw him off. After three minutes and thirty seconds he gave up and ran to the console.

"She's really gone, hasn't she? Oh, Rassilon, Old Girl! What in the bloody hell is she thinking? Show me!"

The TARDIS sent him a wave of her own frustration and sadness and the images of the Alpha running into the console room chased by Jack._ The captain stopped her and pulled her in for a hug. She wriggled out of his embrace and started to make her way to her ship. Jack grabbed her hand and spun her back around. The seemed to be shouting at each other then stared for a tense moment until the captain hung his head and followed her inside. Nothing more happened for a few minutes, then the tree began to disappear._ Not fifteen seconds after it had gone completely he saw himself pensively enter the room before the memory faded.

"She just left. No word to any of us. She just left. Who does that? Who the hell does she think she is? Where did she go?"

A set of coordinates appeared on the monitor. Cardiff. He sighed in relief. Unless she was dropping Jack off before running off, she probably went to refuel. It also meant that she probably wasn't leaving there in a hurry. Should he go after her while she was stuck?

As if the very act of thinking it was enough to chase her away, he lost her coordinates the next moment.

"No!" he yelled and began combing for any sign of her TARDIS. "No, no, no, don't do this!" The search could take hours. _Oh, Selene Tyler. What are you doing?_

The timeship sent a feeling of loss and grief then the image of Lios pacing in the infirmary. This was followed by Torin in a darkened room, brooding with his head in his hands. She sent a feeling of grief again and then the equivalent of a mental push.

"We'll figure it out. It's not the first time she's run off in anger. She'll come back. She just needs to cool off. We'll stay here a bit and give her a chance to do. She'll come back, Sexy. She's young and hot headed, but clever. She'll come back."

The ship sent the images of the boys again and pushed.

"Yes, I suppose I'd better, but shouldn't we give it a bit first? Just in case? No sense in causing them any more worry."

Impatience and a push.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his fringe. "Fine." But which to start with? Torin might rage and pretend he was glad she'd left, whereas Lios would likely blame himself entirely. He hesitated, glued to the spot in front of the corridor while he weighed which young man would be most upset.

The TARDIS gave an impatient hum and it was only a few minutes before Torin's curly brown head appeared around a corner followed very quickly by Lios's spiky blonde around another. They exchanged looks of concern for the other before looking toward the Doctor.

_Thank you._ He growled mentally at the old girl. _Thank you so very much. Could have given me just a few moments, couldn't you, but you just take all matters pertaining to them into your own hands don't you? Interfering box of bolts with delusions of being a nan.  
><em>

She sent him a mental huff then went back to wallowing in her own upset.

Oh, how was he going to do this?

"Your sister scarpered." Brilliant. Very well done indeed. Still, to the point, in any case.

Both men stopped in their tracks with stunned expressions. Torin's face quickly melted into a look of annoyance and anger, while his brother's utter terror and panic. They silently regained themselves and hurried into the console room to view the offending empty space.

Torin was the first to speak, "I'm so bloody tired of her right now, I can't even find the words. Me. I can't find the words."

"Shut the hell up, Torin. You don't know the half of it."

"Oi! Watch it! You said yourself she's been bang out of order lately! Now she's swanned off in _our_ ship without even a word! And what? We just wait until she feels like coming home? Since when are any of us so far beneath her that we should put up with that kind of treatment, eh? It's not right, and she can't be doing this!"

"Torin, she isn't coming back!"

Torin shoved his younger brother and yelled into his face, "Shut your bleeding gob! 'Course she is, you prat! The Alpha wouldn't do that! Just shut the hell up!"

"Torin," Lios shouted and lunged forward and caught his brother by the lapels of the new blue suit the TARDIS had provided. The Doctor moved toward them to pry them apart but Torin held up a hand to him. Lios was staring into his older brother's eyes and pleading as he sent him the incident in the infirmary.

"She wouldn't leave us, Li. She wouldn't," Torin insisted in a whisper.

Lios looked broken and lost but convinced he was right.

"I agree with Torin. I think she's just blowing off steam. Try and relax. We'll sort this. It's a bloody mess right now, granted, but we'll sort it. We'll wait. She'll be back," the Doctor tried to sound confident, but, as the two debated, he was losing confidence. When he put himself in Selene's position, it was hard to ignore that she'd left the two she cared most about in relative health and safety and with a sort of guardian. She'd taken Jack - not gone off alone - and stopped in Cardiff where she could refuel. Lios had made it clear that she was either in, or intending to be in some sort of danger. Perhaps she was trying to be noble. "I need you to tell me what happened at the schism."

Neither man looked at him but they both nodded.

The Doctor felt the invitation to accept their memories and allowed them to wash over him and coalesce into one, if slightly manic, set. They were all tinged in grief, anxiety, and determination. And love. So much love.

_They had looked into all of time and space… and it was… terrifying… and heartsbreakingly beautiful… and intoxicating in its power but unbelievably overwhelming and seemingly uncontrollable - which was new to be honest, and not a little dismaying - and it was… it was… looking into them. They were looking into all of time and space, and all of time and space was looking back - searching for something. Did they mention how overwhelming it was? Bright light completely blinded their vision, and no matter how they tried, they couldn't move._

_Selene was gone - and not. Her little blonde head was there one instant, and gone the next, but they could feel her hands grasped in theirs despite the void between them, which made no sense in the sensory sense, because the senses usually agree when you're very clever and not easily surprised, but who were they to argue with all of time and space if making sense didn't seem to matter very much to it just then?_

_"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio…" came an androgynous golden echo followed by silvery laughter._

_A wolf howled in the distance and they felt an intense heat between them._

_Each had an arm plunged inside a light that burned like a star and held them fast. The heat became searing pain as the arm was consumed in the progressive supernova that threatened to overtake them at any moment. It pushed at the boundaries they created but never went far beyond. Between them and only them, they held its power at bay. The explosion began to reverse itself, drawing the fires and blinding light back inside itself until the air was once again cool and their sister with her overbite, sharp chin, and blonde waves once again stood between them. Her eyes burned like twin suns and she seemed not to be aware of her surroundings. She was staring ahead of herself into the heart of time._

_When they looked with her they saw it collapsing in on itself, breaking apart and dying. As the destruction moved nearer to the eye of the storm, the damage seemed to be originating from a red planet, much like the one they had recently come to, and specifically one inhabitant of that planet wearing a set of intricately embroidered, crimson robes, a neckpiece bearing a strange mark of infinity, a gauntlet that glowed with blue energy, a staff made of gold with spirals at the top, and a golden circlet studded with small red gems. He laughed as reality collapsed around him and they felt like crying out._

_Gentle pressure met the hands holding their sister's before she let them both go and moved forward toward the maniacal man destroying everything. They tried to stop her, keep her from going anywhere near the dangerous man, but found they couldn't move. He paid her no mind as she approached. He seemed not to see her even as she stood directly in front of him, but when she spoke his icy blue eyes snapped to hers. They couldn't hear her words but the man's features contorted with rage and a bolt of blue energy from the gauntlet shot straight through her, but like any phantom it did her no harm. She simply shook her head and smiled, then waved her hand and he began to lose his solidity, dissolving into little more than smoke. As he faded from view and an unearthly melody began to play._

_Music like none they had ever dreamed surrounded them and began to lull them to sleep. The Universe was singing to them, and they couldn't fight the drowsiness…_

The Doctor let that memory fade into what followed but let the memories pass without touching on them. He had seen enough of their grief to know that he didn't want to live through his metacrisis dying.

Instead he focused in on the hours of examining the girl's marking and trying to interest her in doing anything but pouring over the makeshift High Gallifreyan textbooks his metacrisis had made them as she tried to master the complex language without a master of her own. She spent the next few years doing little but pouring over everything he'd left.

The brothers worried, but Rose had had enough of the obsessing one day and locked all the books she could find in a steamer trunk, which she promptly loaded into one of their short range cruisers and sent down to the nearest habitable planet. She told her daughter to go after it before it fell into the wrong hands and changed history. Selene had panicked and raged at her mum, but Rose took it in stride and told her to get on with it.

Selene was gone three days two hours and seven minutes and they were just about to take the whole Starship in when she came back covered in slime and algae from the swampy surface of the planet, and positively glowing with life and adventure. They still caught her studying all the time, but she had become less openly obsessive and more inclined to participate in family life.

"She wants to get to Gallifrey," the Doctor pointed out, "but it's gone. Rassilon is gone and Gallifrey is gone. It's all gone. I destroyed it all. Lios, she'll come back because there's no way to get to where she wants to go. I don't understand why this was such a big secret. I could have ended this madness when we met with a few words."

"We know, Doctor. We know all about the Moment, but it's not that straight forward, is it?" Lios said weakly.

"Yes, actually, it is. I _destroyed_ the planet and it's _gone_ along with everyone on it. No one to fight, no one to save. That's as straightforward as it gets, by my ken."

Lios opened his mouth to object further when the phone rang. The Doctor ran to it instead of ignoring it for once, and answered.

"This had better be whom I think it is and you'd better make it good."

_"Hullo, D- er - Bow-tie. Erm… Yeah, sorry 'bout all this. I was bloody stupid, wasn't I? I'm sorry. I really am."_

"Your brothers are nearing distraction, you know."

_"Yeah, I know, but, well, er… Tell 'em to stop bein' daft 'cos this one's completely my fault an'…"_

Torin was hovering and obviously fighting the impulse to grab the phone and shout at his sister.

"Torin would very much like a word, I think."

_"No! No. Actually, I don't have a lot of time so - er - Doctor, I'm stuck. Can you pick me up at the coordinates I'm sending?"_

"Of course, but Selene what-"

_"I'm alright. Jus' come, please."_

"Alpha -"

_"Mates, right? I trust you an' you trust me, yeah?"_

The Doctor stayed silent as he mulled over her words. Something wasn't right. She was telling him something, but was it that she really needed his trust, or that he should be wary going in after her? A set of coordinates appeared on his monitor.

"I'm coming to get you - oi!"

Torin really did reach out and snatch the receiver this time, though Lios, who had been hovering, made a valiant effort to wrest it from both of them for himself as well. Torin was tallest and held it out of reach then climbed on the jump seat and put it to his ear to hear his sister's soft laughter and a sniff. "Cor! You'd think you've been gone a few years and not a few minutes with all the sorry sods here, eh? Alpha, I… oh." The line was dead. "That's a bit more than disappointing." He jumped back down and hung it up with a scowl. "Where did she get stuck then?"

"Odd. The Tower of London. Twenty-first century. I'm not picking up your ship but the TARDIS isn't able to land inside either. Very odd. Well, looks like she might be in a bit of a pickle. Shall we go find out what kind of trouble she could get into in," he glanced at the watch on his wrist and whistled wryly, "sixty-eight minutes and twelve seconds?"


	19. Cardiff Again

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who not profit from the writing of this silly bit of madness.**

**Though, I do own my madness.**

**Completely unapologetic about the fluffiness of this chapter. I made sure it had a point, I promise and it'll be pretty important in the grand scheme. **

**Yes, Jack's going back to Torchwood and Ianto, you shippers. He has to forget for the sake of timelines and all. But he's got a Time Lady out there somewhere that loves his over-inflated head. **

**Waka waka waka.**

**Ye-p. Shutting my gob now.**

* * *

><p>Lios pulled and her hearts shattered.<p>

Time flared to life around him as she absorbed the enormity of the moment. Two powerful timelines shimmered before her with two very different outcomes.

There was loss either way, but only one she could bear.

She chose.

And ran.

For the first time since her father died and she knew her life would never be one of comfort and ease, she gave over to the bitter flood of tears born of grief and panic and resentment at the unfairness of life. She relied on her other senses to guide her down the corridors as she choked on her silent sobs.

She ran full speed but the TARDIS seemed to be diverting the corridors to hinder her. She cursed silently at the ship and pleaded all in the same thought, but the old ship only sent her comfort and diverted her again to a corridor with a fixed point standing in the middle.

She tried to backpedal and hide her tears but Jack swept her quickly into a tight embrace. She remained stiff for a few moments but he didn't relent and she couldn't help relaxing slightly and returning it.

"Shhh… What's the matter? What happened?"

"It's time's all. Time to go. You ready then?"

"Selene, sweetheart, what are you talking about?"

"The TARDIS is ready. The Doctor an' I fixed her so it's time to go. You're still comin', yeah? I mean, 's alright if you changed your mind. I'll… Oh, Jack! Please don't have changed your mind! Please, I couldn't take it right now! Please, please, come with me!" She clutched him tighter as tears spilled, unbidden and unwelcome, down her cheeks again.

He squeezed her tighter and kissed the top of her head tenderly. "I made you a promise, didn't I?"

She pulled away but seized his hand and pulled him after her. She sent another silent plea to the timeship to help her and let her get back to the console room and the TARDIS sadly complied and moved it closer.

Jack paused at the time rotor and patted the old girl before asking, "Did you at least say goodbye? He may not be your favourite person but he deserves at least that."

She whirled around and shot him an impatient look before turning back to unlock the knot in the ship. Her guilt was gnawing at her insides. The daft old Time Lord really didn't deserve this. She knew she'd cause him grief, especially since she'd found she couldn't keep hating him on principle and stopped pushing him away. But what could she do? She berated herself for opening up the tin of beans that should have been left alone.

"Selene, what about my goodbye? You may want to run off in a fit but he's one of my oldest friends. I'm going to say goodbye. Wait."

"Jack!" she cried. "Wait! No! You can't, I'm sorry, you can't. We have to go now. Please don't question it! I'll explain everythin', I swear, once we're on the TARDIS. _Please._"

Jack stared at her for a few tense moments, then crumbled at the desperation in her eyes. He really couldn't deny her anything. He followed her in.

"Where are the guys?" Jack asked as his eyes swept the cluttered console room.

"Not comin'."

"What do you mean, not coming? Of course they are! The'd follow you into hell! _Of course_ they are! What the hell happened, Selene?"

"They're not comin', Jack. Leave it," she choked.

"Selene-"

"I said leave it!" she shouted and he backed off temporarily.

She slammed the door and ran to the console where she grabbed a small silvery orb. She plopped herself down near an open grating and twisted it between her palms. It opened and she set to work threading the three wispy golden wires around what appeared to be a faintly glowing piece of coral.

"Selene," Jack began again.

"Jack, not now. Gimme a mo' to get this sorted before sayin' anythin', please!"

They waited a tense moment before the Alpha knitted her inky brows and pulled the orb off, shook it, then reattached it. Still, nothing happened.

She growled in frustration. "Piece of space junk, honestly!" She ripped it off and hurled it behind her where it hit the wall and promptly shattered into tiny pieces. "I had to snog a carrot for tha'! _An'_ his hands had a wander! Rubbish."

"So, we're not going?" he asked almost hopefully.

She grimaced. "Oh, no. We're goin' alright, jus' not gettin' power the way I thought we'd do. I was hopin' I wouldn't have to try this 'cos I've never done it, only seen it done, but no choice, really." She lifted the crystalline piece of coral to her lips and felt the tingling energy building in every nerve centre. She concentrated on coalescing it.

"Selene, what are you doing?"

"Givin' her a bit of a jump."

She blew and a thick cloud of regeneration energy passed from her to the coral making it almost too bright to look at. The little time rotor instantly glowed with life and Jack felt a golden presence that was very familiar practically kiss his mind on the cheek. Well, if minds had cheeks, that is.

The Alpha was still sitting with a glazed look in her eyes when he called her name.

She started slightly then slurred, "Might've over done it jussa bit. Pro'bly an entire regen'ration wi' tha' one." She smiled wanly before promptly keeling over and passing out.

"_What?_ Selene! What did you do?" He ran to her and gathered her into his lap while her checked her vitals.

The time rotor began it's dematerialisation sequence so quietly he never noticed they'd moved.

She was out for nearly half an hour. When she came to she didn't look her best, but the deathly pallor had left her lips and cheeks, and her eyes had lost all glassiness. Jack was content to let her sit on her own while he made her the tea she requested.

While he was away, she stood and walked to the console and rested her hands on it. The display announced that they were no longer in the Doctor's console room, but Cardiff.

On the rift.

Waiting.

Oh.

Well, no time like the present, she supposed.

"Mum?" She said as she stroked her ship. "You did this, didn't you?" She waited for an answer but none came. "Mum, I hope you didn't do anythin' to - er - can you get hurt like this? Well, I hope it's jus' tha' you're tired an' tha's why you're not answerin' me. I hope I didn't muck anythin' up. I hope you're ok… is wha' I mean. I mean, I hope nothin' went wrong. This can't go all squiffy yet." She gave an enormous yawn that had traces of regeneration energy still floating about inside. "Blimey, I'm still knackered. Feels like I jus' fell out of a Yrgia tree an' hit every branch on the way down. No wonder you always slept for so long after doin' tha'. Tha' was right shatterin' for even my body, an' you had the human vascular system an' everythin'. Right, should stop talkin' full stop any time now. Will be the master of my own voice an' thoughts again. Soon. Ish. Still can't stop. Wha' is wrong with me?"

Jack made his way down the stairs from the little galley and handed her a steaming mug. Even the smell made her mind feel less foggy, but without the haze, the persistent aching from the void in her mind, normally occupied by her brothers and, quite recently, the Doctor, returned with a vengeance. She was certain she'd never gone this long alone in her mind in her life.

"What's wrong? What's happening?" He took the tea from her and set the mug down, then took her face in his hands searching for something - anything he could fix.

"Jus' a bit gobby, Jack. Not a major problem, jus' means I need the tea 's all." She picked it back up, took a sip, and sighed. Her head was killing.

"I'll make a mental note of that," he shook his head as she pulled her own out of his hands. "Now, why are we running away without Torin and Lios? I had half a mind to run for them and the Doc when you were unconscious, you know. That scared the hell out of me! What was that about an entire regeneration? Was that what that was? Regeneration energy? Did you just waste an entire regeneration?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Shut up a minute. Too much all at once. Wha' was the first bit? Why're we runnin' from 'em? 'S complicated."

"Selene, you promised. It's me. Just tell me."

She huffed and took another sip of tea before setting it down and allowing Jack to pull her close again.

"I made a choice I could live with, Jack. If I stayed, it'd mean one of 'em would have to make a choice between lettin' me die an' dyin' themselves - an' they'd do it. I saw tha', plain as day. They would. I dunno which, but I couldn't let any of 'em do tha'. Don't you see? I couldn't choose myself over them. Any of 'em. So I left after makin' 'em angry. All of 'em. 'S better. Easier later."

Jack kissed her head again but stayed silent. He understood the choice she made, but he wasn't giving her a choice about living. He was determined to risk everything if he had to. It didn't matter that she had the stupid Time Lord ability to see these things. The Doc did too, and he'd been wrong plenty of times.

She'd be wrong too, no matter what she thought.

He slipped his hand in his pocket and touched his insurance policy for comfort.

"Couldn't've gone for 'em to help, though, sorry. We're already in Cardiff, Jack. 'S not your Cardiff, though. 'S 2021 so don't go out an' risk a paradox or anythin'," she sniffed and forced back the tears that threatened.

"What? When did you do that? While I was making tea?"

"No, I didn't do it at all. I think it was Mum. She moved us here soon as I gave the ship a boost."

Jack thought about the golden presence he'd felt earlier and nodded. It was strange, but not the most outrageous thing he'd ever heard. "So we're here and ready to go, but you're beat. Look at you! I don't think I've ever seen you look this tired. When did you last sleep?" He noticed for the first time that her red scarf was missing and the swirling golden symbols were peeking out from under her collar. As silly as it was, it was almost like seeing her partially undressed, and though he'd seen more of her when she'd shown him her markings before, he had the mad feeling he was peeping. Not that he minded peeping, but he was glad they were alone and no one else could.

"Oh, er… Dunno. Coupla days? I'm alright. Really. Jus' gotta recover a bit an' I'll be fine. Tea's good." She knew the last time she'd slept had been the day they'd met the Doctor and it had been nearly a week, but she wasn't going to try to sleep. It would be the first time she ever slept without her brothers and the idea filled her with dread and grief. She doubted her headache would allow her to rest anyway.

"Regeneration energy," he prompted, changing the subject he knew he wouldn't win.

"Right, yeah. So, er… it's powerful stuff. I - er - nicked wha' was supposed to be a vortex channeller from a bloke on Garazone Prime, but it turned out to either be an excellent fake or broken. Well, it's really broken now, innit?" she chuckled as she looked at the shattered silver pieces on the ground.

"So you did what exactly?"

"I fed some of my regeneration energy to the coral to get her goin'. Mum used to do somethin' like it all the time an' the Doctor's done it before too. Don't worry, Jack," she soothed seeing his concern that bordered on anger.

"You mumbled that it was too much. A whole regeneration."

"Yeah… Erm… Well, I've never done it before myself. I overshot a bit 's all. Stop lookin' at me like tha'! It doesn't matter! I did wha' I had to do! An' it's not like I'm gonna need it later! It's there for me to use now,_ for this,_ so I did! Don't get all shirty with me for makin' the decisions tha've gotta be made!" She pulled out of his grip and parked herself on the ground near the opening in the grate.

He watched her as she reached in and lifted the coral piece she had literally breathed life into earlier and stroke it before returning it to its proper place and moving the organic piece of floor back over the hole. There was no arguing with her once she made a choice. If she believed it was right, it was, the end, and everyone else was wrong if they disagreed. It was infuriating even while it was endearing.

She paused a moment and closed her eyes while breathing in deeply and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Her eyes snapped back open and she got to her feet, shaking off the moment of weakness. "Nothin'. Jus' a headache. No big."

He sighed and gave her a penetrating look.

"Really, it's nothin'. I jus' blocked everyone an' it doesn't feel very nice. I can tell you, though, it's no wonder the Doctor can be such a moody git if he's spent centuries with his head like this."

"Why don't you just open back up. We're gone now."

"They'd be here in two seconds if I did. 'S better this way. I don't mind… er… well, I can cope. I'm alright."

"But it hurts."

"Yeah."

"Would it help if you let me in? I know it's not the same, but it's something, right?"

She had been studiously avoiding his gaze as she fiddled about with the controls and ran systems checks, but at those words she looked up and met his cool blue eyes with her brows reaching for her hairline. She felt the blush creep unbidden into her cheeks.

"Er… 'S not exactly how it works, but… Jack it isn't like you think, I mean, 's not like when we practised forgettin' or anythin'. Tha' was all touch an' me bein' incredibly careful." Her brows scrunched back down and she shifted from foot to foot. "It wouldn't be somethin' tha'… it wouldn't go away. You couldn't turn it off. We'd be connected an' I'd jus' be there." She broke their eye contact as her brows seemed unable to decide where they should rest on her face and her mouth pulled down at one corner and up at the other. She pulled at her sleeves and felt for her missing muffler as if her hands had a mind of their own.

He moved in a little closer.

"All the time. You'd have no privacy 'cos you're not naturally telepathic an' don't know how to - er… keep things separate or - er sort of fenced off. I mean, I'm really good - er - I'm very in control an' I'd not pry, but it's really… er… intimate when you're not… er… family, so I'm sure you don't really understand wha' you're offerin'. I mean, erm… You'd be sendin' to me all the time an' I'd…"

He was close enough that she could feel the heat radiating and she could actually taste the pheromones rolling from him.

"Well we'd be… like… well, a couple - er - permanently an' I appreciate the offer, 's really very sweet, but I can't do tha' to you." She turned back to the console and slowly began scrolling through the circular words that made little sense to him.

"I can think of plenty of worse things than a connection to you."

She rolled her eyes and tried to laugh it off and ignore her tingling skin, then moved further along the console and busied her fingers.

He couldn't be serious. He was always having a laugh this way, and she shouldn't read into it. Jack was just incorrigible, and she should be thankful he was trying to distract her from her misery instead of imagining… things. She felt a wave of love for the immortal man and his commitment to her after so short a friendship, and pretended it was completely platonic. Even if he was here to help her save a planet and stop a war, he'd made it clear that his biggest reason for assisting was his friendship with her family. No wonder Mum loved him so much that she couldn't bear the thought of a universe without him.

She was struck with how filled her life was with good men. It hurt and made everything easier all at the same time.

Wallowing was no good. She needed to get on with it if she was going to ever move again.

She cleared her throat and smiled. "No time like the present, yeah?"

His eyes blazed for a moment with determination at her words and he strode to her and pulled her into a fierce kiss that had her squirming and tingling down to her toes. Her nerves were still sensitive from the regeneration energy and the sensations swept her away as she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him back ever bit as good as she got. His tongue teased her bottom lip, seeking permission and she couldn't stifle the moan that arose in her throat as he deepened the kiss. She buried her sensitive fingers in his hair and absorbed the pleasure of the moment, from the taste of his mouth, to the way his blazingly hot chest felt pressed against her cool one, and the way each of her layers set her nerves on fire as they moved between them.

She felt his mind brush her thick barriers and it brought reality crashing back down around her.

She pulled away with the most casual smile she could muster and walked around the other side of the console, prepping switches and levers, and fighting the giddiness that wasn't helping her control herself. She didn't know if she was surprised he'd done it - Jack was, after all, Jack - but she did know she had every reason not to let it go any further. It was a very slippery slope, and one she had no intention of sliding down at a time like this.

"I must be a Time Lord junky and repellant all in one. Is it the way I feel? The fixed point?"

She stared at her hands and considered lying. It would be easy. She'd already hurt all the rest of the people she cared about. What was one more?

She met his gaze again and flinched at the sadness she saw, her earlier notion of purposely wounding him winking out of the realm of possibility in a split second. "Oh, God, Jack, no! No! It's got nothin' to do with you at all. You're lovely! Er - that sounded bad but I mean it. Really… really… mean it…" she shivered a moment, then continued, "I jus'… I'm too mixed up right now for casual, yeah?"

"Who said anything about casual, Selene?"

"Jack…"

"Selene, there isn't a man alive that wouldn't take one look at you and want you, but the minute they got to know you, really know you, they'd never be the owner of their heart again. Your father is the same. People fall in love with him all over the universe and he never even sees it most of the time. You're just a chip off the old block. I never stood a chance."

"You couldn't have picked a better time for this?"

"When is the right time? When I've jumped into the timelock and have to forget you soon after? You're asking if I'm ready to do just that, and I'm not. Not until I've at least had my say. One day, if by some miracle I remember this, I'd like to've not been a coward. Now, have I been chasing phantoms and was that kiss just the heat of the moment, or was what I felt there as mutual as it seemed?"

"Jack, don't push. It's not fair to either of us."

"Are you going to give me a load of Time Lord bull? You don't have feelings like that?"

"No! No, I won't, but you gotta understand it won't be enough! I'm not gonna say I felt nothin' 'cos tha'd be a lie, but we have, what? Hours together, tops, yeah? Unless, 'course, we completely say sod it all an' abandon everythin' I've worked my whole life toward, or spend all our stolen time on the run so tha' I can keep the Doctor from makin' it all go pear shaped."

"You would never do that."

"No, I wouldn't, but you could ask," she smiled vulnerably at him. "'Course, you wouldn't either now, would you? 'S why I… You're amazin', Jack, you know tha'? We've known each other less than a week an' you're ready to love me even though I'm rude, an' cranky, an' bossy, an' obsessive. You've spent hours watching' me at my very worst an' yet you have the ability to get past all tha' an' find somethin' to see in me. To you it comes easy. Love is meant to be given away for Captain Jack. Tha's not bad or anythin', 's jus' I'm… I'm not like tha'. 'S hard for me an' it never gets easier. I… but if I let myself… like tha', I'm gonna be crushed when you don't know me anymore an' who knows how long I'll have to live knowin' I'm not even a blip on the Harkness radar. Casual'd be easier'n losin' you tha' way. I know I'm selfish. I can't help it. I try not to be an' I always circle back to tryin' to not get hurt-"

Jack kissed her again but the urgency had calmed. His kiss felt more like a promise. She didn't resist but willed herself to stiffen in his arms.

"Stop it," she commanded with pathetically little conviction.

Still, he let her go and held his hands up in surrender. She felt the loss of contact keenly, and his supplicant posture tore at her hearts.

"Oh, bloody hell, Jack Harkness." She walked over to the dematerialisation switch and sent them into the vortex. "One bleedin' night. 'S all we get. I can't hide us longer'n tha'. Are you _sure_ you're ok with doin' this then forgettin'?"

"No, I hate the idea, but I don't have any choice, do I?"

"No," she whispered. Jack looked as thoroughly heart-broken as she felt and she just couldn't stand it, so she told him a half truth. "I can make it so the next time you see me, you get all the memories back." His head snapped up and his eyes searched hers. "I can't promise when it'll be, but I can promise they don't have to be lost forever."

"When this is over, Selene, I'm going to be waiting to see your face again. I expect it to happen. Don't disappoint me."

"Well, you're not gonna remember so you won't be bothered, but I'll do my best. Oh, rude, yeah? Tha' was bad, even for me. Sorry."

He laughed despite her avoidance and softly claimed her lips again.

In a few hours he'd be strapping on his supercharged vortex manipulator and willingly launching himself, the fixed point, at the timelock, another fixed point and trying to rip it open with his existence. She'd be sailing through the tear on a shockwave from the rift to spend an unknown amount of time alone until she faced what she was convinced would be her end. She'd programmed the manipulator to take him back to Cardiff after she'd made it through but as soon as he was safe, he'd forget her ever met her.

Sod it all. The universe owed them both one damn night.


	20. Down the Rabbit Hole

**A/N: I do not own Doctor Who.**

**This chapter marks the beginning of my insanity.**

**I have it on good authority that Bedlam is a spa resort in the 54th century.**

**I decided Bonfire Night 2006 was a much better date to land them in the madness. Especially since that'll mean I can have my nine in my story if I want to, and dammit, I do.**

**There's a chapter that I couldn't reconcile with and cut it for its superfluity. Instead, I turned it into a one-shot. It deals with backstory and does little to forward the plot aside from make my wicked little heart dance with delight at pulling something über-lemony off (I do actually avoid writing lemons most of the time because I am personally rather unromantic and often feel I lack perspective in the matter. Sarcasm is my sonnet. I'm a limerick rather than haiku. But I do think it came out nicely this time all the same.) In The Price of Living canon, it'd fall in between the _Cardiff Again_ and _Down the Rabbit Hole_ chapters and it - er - covers the night in the vortex between the Alpha and Jack. Not for teens or kids, it's called Stolen Hours. **

* * *

><p>"I think I'll tell her she has to do the clearing up for a year, and that we'll be having her chocolate biscuits for a while. I bet she's feeling bad enough to agree to it. Do you remember when I took apart her useless robot cat and she lorded it over me forever? This is <em>much<em> worse than that! What else can we use this for?" Torin was almost devilish in his glee as they began to materialise in London to rescue their wayward Time Lady.

"No way. I'm not touching that with a bargepole. That's your funeral," Lios cautioned, far from feeling like he was in any position to make demands of his sister, and played with the settings on the new sonic screwdriver the Doctor had made him. It was streamlined with a blue diode and without the claw feature he'd put on Torin's and had on his own. Sure the Doctor claimed it was a useful feature, but he also suspected the Doctor based that on how cool they made you look, which was silly and impractical even if he possibly did almost think it was slightly cool looking. But only a bit, and he was well pleased with his. The Alpha would take the mickey out of Torin every time she saw his for weeks, and he could remain aloof which was excellent.

"You lot don't seem very concerned that she gave us little more information than, 'I'm stuck, come get me.'"

Torin shrugged. "The TARDIS is a baby. She gets knackered. We've been stuck before, weeell, actually we would get stuck for a bit more often than we didn't."

"Why not just say the ship was knackered, why be vague?"

"'Cos that's her, isn't it? Boss of everyone so why waste time explaining? Er - well, not really, but she's always acting that way. I mean, you get used to it, don't you? She doesn't even know she's doing it, and so I don't even notice, but she's usually right anyway, so er…right. Like I was saying, she just does that." He fidgeted and smoothed his curly hair down at the sides.

"What is it that she is ultimately trying to accomplish here? Lios, you promised me answers if I gave her a chance and she balked. Well, this is your sister, balking. Why go to Cardiff, then completely disappear only to call from an un-landable Tower of London? None of this makes sense, and your sister tends to be too obsessively meticulous to allow for this much randomishness."

It was Torin that answered, whether it was to spare his brother more guilt or the compulsion to talk became too great, he launched into it with a seriousness he rarely exuded. "Do you remember the Gelth? 'Course you do, what am I saying? The Gelth tried to come through the rift because they had been forced into their gaseous state by fallout from the Time War, yeah? Well, the Alpha is fairly positive, and by fairly positive I mean willing to try and pilot through it potentially killing herself and us if she's even slightly wrong, that she can use the rift like a sort of slingshot to make a small breach in the Time Lock because that's where it comes out on the other side. All she'd need is a pinhole first and Jack said he'd give it a go."

"What do you mean, 'Jack said he'd give it a go?' Give _what_ a go?"

"Making a pinhole, weren't you listening?"

"And just how is he supposed to accomplish that without accidentally ripping it wide open and unleashing hell on the universe?"

"Something about fixed point reverse polarity? Something about neutron flow? No, not quite that. That'd be silly. Never mind I said that. My attention wanders a bit when Alpha obsessively plans. I think I'd've been sectioned already if I listened to her half the time. Still, Doctor, she took Jack with her to Cardiff and the rift, but called from _London_ not Gallifrey. Maybe her attempt went squiffy or she wised up and she's crawling back with her tail tucked. I'm tellin' you,_ all_ her biscuits and all the washing up."

The TARDIS landed with a jolt that had each of them scrambling for a handhold.

"I'm not convinced, but we'll just have to go and see, won't we?"

They stepped out the doors to a scene familiar to only one of them. The Doctor frowned as he looked around the Powell Estates then up at his Old Girl.

"Not the Tower of London then?" Torin mused and Lios elbowed him. "Where are we?"

"Powell Estates; London; Earth; year…" he glanced at his watch then his eyes widened dramatically before he shot a furtive look around the alley they'd landed in, then grabbed the two and started steering them back to the TARDIS. "Right, we'll land closer to the Tower! Closer is definitely much more where we need to be. Come along, Tylers."

They didn't argue and boarded the ship without a fuss. Lios, however, spoke up while the Doctor began throwing levers. "What year is it? Powell Estates was where Mum grew up."

"Sorry, my boy, but you can't see her. I really can't see you either, actually, that's why we're going. It's Bonfire Night 2006 and I brought Rose home today to visit Jackie. I imagine we're here right now, so this is us leaving immediately."

"Why'd you land us here?" Torin asked amusedly, unaware as ever of his rudeness.

"I didn't intend to! I set the coordinates your sister gave and the TARDIS picked the parking spot! I'm sure it was just habit!"

"Right, well, what happened that day?" Lios prompted.

"I left Rose and Jackie watching telly and jumped ahead four hours in the TARDIS so we could do the bonfires and toffee apples sooner… Right. Hurry up then!"

All three started their mad dash flipping switches, pushing buttons, and throwing levers to move the ship before running into the younger Doctor. When they'd started dematerialising, the Doctors expression went from focused to resigned.

"Well, I'm either going to make myself forget, or I change my mind at the last second. Tylers, why don't you go and have a quick look while I deal with - er - me? And I'm sure it goes without saying, but shields up, lads. No spoilers." He knew he'd be dealing with a broody, slightly volatile, but Rose-having version of himself any moment - he tried not to resent that last bit - he didn't remember this happening after all.

They nodded and were out the door the moment they were fully stopped.

Dark, close cropped hair and a dark leather clad frame entered one minute and eighteen seconds later.

"Riskin' a paradox, y'know? Thought I'd get smarter, but regeneration _can_ be a dodgy process."

"Obviously! And you're pretty thick as it is. _I_ legged it. _You_ gave chase. Who's the idiot, then? Older is wiser after all. We both know you just wanted to see what kind of trouble I was getting into, but you'll just have to wait 'til it's your turn. Off we pop then. Make sure to forget, I'd rather not have any new memories surface just now."

The younger man shifted on the balls of his feet and looked around the console casually, blue eyes searching hungrily in spite of his cool demeanour. "Not even goin' to ask about her then? She... possibly still with us then? What were you doin' near her flat? Takin' her for a visit an' get the date wrong? Or is she gone an' you were comin' back to peep? How much older _are_ you just? Mind, you're a bit pretty an' appallin'ly young lookin', but maybe she likes-"

"Ah. That's why you're here. A fishing expedition. As if I'd give you the satisfaction. I've gotten quite cranky in my old age, you know? We've always been terrible at waiting for things, but you're gonna have to suck it and see this time. You really should forget this. As a matter of fact, I happen to know you _do_, so run along, jump ahead four hours and go collect Rose Tyler before Jackie makes another inedible tea you have to choke down."

"Tha's never happenin'. Tea with Jackie Tyler? Don't much fancy bein' slapped again, me, or propositioned. If someone had told me Rose Tyler had a mother like tha', I'd not've asked twice."

"Yeah, you would."

The younger Doctor grinned infectiously. It was his 'better-with-two-adventure, hand-holding-they-thought-I-was-her-bloke-and-not-her-dad, exploring-the-universe-for-fantastic-chips' smile.

The older Doctor felt a familiar pang of longing. It'd been a long time since he'd even wanted to smile like that.

"Really, I'm not telling you anymore, I mean it! And this one's mine, just go back to your Rose and get your toffee apples."

The Doctor in tweed slipped passed the Doctor in leather and stared up at the old building. The younger man flanked him and did his own sensory assessment.

"Wha' is it then?"

"No idea."

"Why're you here?"

"Got a call to - er - pick someone up."

"Turnin' the TARDIS into taxi service, are we?"

"No. Shut up. Why are you still here?"

"Who?"

"You! Why are you still here?"

"Tha's polite. Height of manners, you."

"Manners have skipped our regenerations more often than not."

"Who are we meant to be collectin'?"

"Like I'd tell you. And what do you mean 'we?' There's no 'we,' you're leav-"

"D'you smell tha'?"

The older man sampled the air. "Dusty. Bit like limestone, wouldn't you say?"

The younger nodded, then strode toward the front doors whipping out his sonic without another word.

"Oi! I told you to get out of it! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

There was something very wrong with him and that ridiculous grin that stretched from daft ear to daft ear. Wouldn't even listen to _himself?_ Especially when the himself was older and wiser and saying very logical, paradox-avoiding things?

But, of course, that's what kind of man he was, wasn't he?

The Alpha was right, he was hopeless. An utterly daft git. And he tried very hard not to allow the giddy glee of very-bad-wrong impending adventure to distract him from the fact that he really should not go further with this… but all the kids were out there… and so was he. Well, better he was there to make sure nothing went squiffy, right?

He hurried after himself and into...

"UNIT?"


End file.
